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Lovell’S Library now contains the complete writings of most of the best standard 
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846 An A Igonquin Maiden 20 

BY MAX ADELER 

295 Random Shots 20 

825 Elbow Room 20 

BY GUSTAVE AIMARD 

500 The Adventurers 10 

567 The Trail-Hunter 10 

578 Pearl of the Andes 10 

1 01 1 Pi rates of the Prairies 10 

1021 The Trapper’s Daughter 10 

1082 The Tiger Slayer 10 

1045 Trappers of Arkansas 10 

1052 Border Rifles 10 

1068 The Freebooters 10 

1069 The White Scalper 10 

BY MRS. ALDERDICE 

346 An Interesting Case 20 

BY MRS. ALEXANDER 

62 The Wooing O’t, 2 Parts, each .15 

99 The Admiral’s Ward 20 

209 The Executor 20 

849 V aleri e’s Fate 10 

664 At Bay 10 

746 Beaton’s Bargain 20 

777 A Second Life 20 

799 Maid, Wife, or Widow 10 

840 By Woman’s Wit 20 

995 Which Shall it Be ? 20 

BY F. ANSTEY 

80 Y ice V ers5 ; or, A Lesson to Fathers. . 20 

894 Th c Gian t’s Robe 20 

458 Black Poodle, and Other Tales 20 

616 The Tinted Venus 15 

755 A Fallen Idol 20 

BY T. S. ARTHUR 

496 Woman’s Trials 20 

507 The Two Wives 15 

518 Married Life 15 

588 The Waj^s of Providence 15 

545 Home Scenes 15 

554 Stories for Parents 35 

568 Seed-Time and Harvest 15 

568 Words for the Wise 15 

574 Stories for Young Housekeepers. . . .35 

579 Lessons in Life 15 

582 Off-Hand Sketches 15 

585 Tried and Tempted 15 


BY HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN 


419 Fairy Tales 20 

BY EDWIN ARNOLD 

486 The Light of Asia 20 

455 Pearls of the Faith 35 

472 Indian Song of Songs 10 

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351 Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers 20 

BY ADAM BADEAU 

756 Conspiracy 25 

BY SIR SAMUEL BAKER 

206 Cast up by the Sea 20 

227 Rifle and Hound in Ceylon 20 

233 Eight Years’ Wandering in Ceylon. . 20 

BY C. W. BALESTIEB 

381 A Fair Device 20 

405 Life of J. G. Blaine 20 

BY R. M. BALLANTYNE 

215 The Red Eric 20 

226 The Fire Brigade 20 

239 Erling the Bold 20 

241 Deep Down 20 

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S78 Little Tu’penny 10 

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460 Galaski 20 

BY AUGUST BEBEL 

712 Woman 30 

BY MRS. E. BEDELL BENJAMIN 

748 Our Roman Palace 20 

BY A. BENRIMO 

470 Vic 15 

BY E. BERGER 

901 Charles Auchester 20 

BY W. BERGSOE 

77 Pillone 15 

BY E. BERTHET 

366 The Sergeant's Legacy 20 

BY BJORNSTJERNE BJORNSON 

3 The Happy Boy 10 

4 Arne , 10 


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BY WALTER BESANT 


38 They Were Married 10 

303 Let Nothing You Dismay 10 

257 All in a Garden Fair 20 

268 When the Ship Comes Home 10 

384 Dorothy Forster 20 

609 Self or Bearer 10 

842 The World Went Very Well Then . .20 

847 The Holy Rose 10 

1002 To Call Her Mine 20 

BY WILLIAM BLACK 

40 An Adventure in Thule, etc 10 

48 A Princess of Thule 20 

82 A Daughter of Heth 20 

85 Shandon Bells 20 

93 Macleod of Dare 20 

136 Yolande 20 

142 Strange Adventures of a Phaeton. . . 20 

146 White Wings 20 

153 Sunrise, 2 Parts, each 15 

178 Madcap Violet 20 

180 Itilmeny 20 

182 That Beautiful Wretch 20 

184 Green Pastures, etc 20 

188 In Silk Attire 20 

213 The Three Feathers 20 

216 Lady Silverdale’s Sweetheart 10 

217 The Four MacNicols 10 

218 Mr. Pisistratus Brown, M.P 10 

225 Oliver Goldsmith 10 

282 Monarch of Mincing Lane 20 

456 Judith Shakespeare 20 

584 Wise Women of Inverness 10 

678 White Heather 20 

958 Sabina Zembra 20 

BY MISS M. E. BRADDON 

88 The Golden Calf 2C 

104 Lady Audley’s Secret 20 

214 Phantom Fortune... 20 

266 Under the Red Flag 10 

444 An Ishmaelite 20 

555 Aurora Floyd 20 

588 To the Bitter End 20 

596 Dead Sea Fruit 20 

698 The Mistletoe Bough 20 

766 Vixen 20 

783 The Octoroon 20 

814 Mohawks 20 

868 One Thing Needful 20 

869 Barbara ; or, Splendid Misery 20 

870 John Marchmont’s Legacy 20 

871 Joshua Haggard’s Daughter 20 

872 Taken at the Flood 20 

873 Asphodel 20 

877 The Doctor's Wife 20 

87 8 Only a Clod 20 

879 Sir J asper’s Tenant 20 

880 Lady’s Mile SO 

881 Birds of Prey 20 

882 Charlotte’s Inheritance 20 

883 Rupert Godwin 20 

8S6 Strangers and Pilgrims 20 

887 A Strange World 20 

888 Mount Royal 20 

889 Just As I Am 20 

890 Dead Men’s Shoes 20 

892 Hostages to Fortune 20 

893 Fenton’s Quest 20 

894 The Cloven Foot 20 


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1009 The Great Hesper 28 

BY E. B. BLACKMOEE 

851 Lorna Doone, Part I 20 

851 Lorna Doone, Part II. 29 

936 Maid of Sker 20 

955 Cradock Nowell, Part 1 20 

955 Cradock Nowell, Part II 20 

961 Springhaven 20 

1034 Mary Anerley 20 

1035 Alice Lorraine 20 

1036 Cristowell 20 

1037 Clara Vaughan 20 

1038 Cripps the Carrier 20 

1039 Remarkable History of Sir Thomas 

Upmore .20 

1040 Erema ; or, My Father’s Sin 20 

BY LILLIE D. BLAKE 

105 Woman’s Place To-day 20 

597 Fettered for Life 25 

BY ANNIE BRADSHAW 

716 A Crimson Stain 20 

BY CHAELOTTE BEEMEE 

448 Life of Fredrika Bremer 20 

BY CHAELOTTE BRONTE 

74 Jane Eyre 20 

897 Shirley 20 

BY EHODA BROUGHTON 

23 Second Thoughts 20 

230 Belinda 20 

781 Betty’s Visions ... 1 5 

841 Dr. Cupid 20 

1022 Good-Bye, Sweetheart 20 

1023 Red as a Rose is She 20 

1024 Cometh up as a Flower. 20 

1025 Not Wisely but too Well 20 

1026 Nancy 20 

1027 Joan 20 

BY ELIZABETH BARRETT 
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421 Aurora Leigh 26 

479 Poems 35 

BY ROBERT BROWNING 

552 Selections from Poetical Works 20 

BY WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT 

443 Poems 20 

BY ROBERT BUCHANAN 

318 The New Abelard 20 

696 The Master of the Mine 10 

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200 The Pilgrim’s Progress 20 

BY ROBERT BURNS 

430 Poems 20 

BY REV. JAS. S. BUSH 

113 More Words about the Bible 20 

BY E. LASSETER BYNNER 

100 Nimport, 2 Parts, each 15 

102 Tritons, 2 Parts, each IS 


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LOVELL'S LIBRARY 


BY THOMAS CAMPBELL 


626 Poems 30 

BY ROSA NQUCHETE CAREY 

060 For Lilias 20 

1)11 Not Like other Girls 20 

912 Robert Ord’s Atonement 20 

959 Wee Wifie 20 

900 Wooed and Married 20 

BY WM. CARLET0N 

i 90 W illy Reilly 20 

82(T Shane Fadh’s Wedding 30 

821 Larry McFarland’s Wake 10 

822 The Party Fight and Funeral 10 

823 The Midnight Mass 10 

824 PhilPurcel 10 

825 An Irish Oath 10 

826 Going to Maynooth 10 

827 Phelim O’Toole’s Courtship 10 

828 Dominick, the Poor Scholar 10 

829 Neal Malone 10 

BY THOMAS CARLYLE 

4S6 History of French Revolution, 2 

Parts, each 25 

494 Past and Present 20 

500 The Diamond Necklace ; and Mira- 

beau 15 

593 Chartism 20 

598 Sartor Resartus 20 

514 Early Kings of Norway 20 

620 Jean Paul Friedrich Richter 10 

522 Goethe, and Miscellaneous Essays. . .11 

525 Life of Heyne. 15 

52S Voltaire and Novalis 15 

541 Heroes, and Hero-Worship 20 

546 Signs of the Times 15 

550 German Literature ..15 

561 Portraits of John Knox 15 

571 Count Cagliostro, etc 35 

578 Frederick the Great, Vol. I ....... .20 

680 “ “ “ Vol. II 20 

591 “ “ Vol. Ill .20 

610 “ “ “ Vol. IV 20 

619 “ “ “ Vol. V 20 

622 “ “ “ Vol. VI 20 

626 “ “ “ Vol. VII 20 

628 “ ‘ A “ Vol. VIII 20 

630 Life of John Sterling 20 

633 Latter-Day Pamphlets 20 

636 Life of Schiller .20 

613 Oliver Cromwell, Vol. 1 25 

646 “• “ YoL II... 25 

649 “ “ Vol. Ill 25 

652 Characteristics and other Essays. . . 15 
656 Corn Law Rhymes and other Essays . 15 
658 Baillie the Covenanter and other Es- 
says ... 15 

661 Dr. Francia and other Essays 15 

BY LEWIS CARROLL 

450 Alice’s Ad venturea 20 

451 Through the Looking-Glass. 20 

BY “CAVENDISH” 

422 Cavendish Card Essays. ...... 15 

BY CERVANTES 

417 Don. Quixote ....30 

BY L. W. CHAMPNEY 

119 Bourbon Lilies .......... 20 


BY VICTOR CHERBT7LIEZ 


242 Samuel Brohl & Co. 25 

BY BERTHA M. CLAY 

183 Her Mother’s Sin. 20 

277 Dora Thorne. 20 

287 Beyond Pardon 20 

420 A Broken Wedding-Ring 20 

423 Repented at Leisure 20 

458 Sunshine and Roses 20 

465 The Earl's Atonement 20 

474 A Woman’s Temptation 20 

476 Love Works Wonders - 20 

558 Fair but False 10 

593 Between Two Sins 10 

651 At War with Herself 15 

669 Hilda 10 

689 Her Martyrdom 20 

692 Lord Lynn’s Choice 10 

694 The Shadow of a Sin 10 

695 Wedded and Parted 10 

700 In Cupid’s Net 10 

701 Lady Darner’s Secret 20 

71 8 A Gilded Sin 10 

729 Between Two Loves 20 

727 For Another’s Sin 20 

730 Romance of a Young Girl 20 

733 A Queen Amongst Women 10 

738 A Golden Dawn 10 

739 Like no Other Love 10 

740 A Bitter Atonement 20 

744 Evelyn’s Folly 20 

752 Set in Diamonds 20 

764 A Fair Mystery 20 

809 Thorns and Orange Blossoms 10 

801 Romance of a Black Veil 10 

803 Love’s Warfare 10 

804 Madolin’s Lover 20 

806 From Out the Gloom 20 

807 Which Loved Him Best 10 

808 A True Magdalen 20 

809 The Sin of a Lifetime _ 20 

81 0 Trince Charlie's Daughter. 19 

811 A Golden Heart 10 

812 Wife in Name Only. 20 

815 AW Oman’s Error 20 

896 Marjorie 20 

922 A Wilful Maid 20 

923 Lady Castlemaine’s Divorce 20 

926 Claribel’s Love Story .....20 

928 Thrown on the World 29 

929 Under a Shadow 2*3 

939 A Struggiefor a Ring: 20 

932 Hilary's Folly 29 

933 A Haunted Life 29 

934 A Woman’s Love Story . ... 20 

969 A Woman’s War 20 

984 ’Twixt Smile and Tear 20 

985 Lady Diana’s Pride 20 

986 Belle oc Lynn 20 

988 Marjorie's Fate 20 

989 Sweet Cymbeline 29 

1007 Redeemed by Love 2*0 

1012 The Squire's Darling 10 

1013 The Mystery ox Colde Fell 29 

BY REV. JAS. FREEMAN CLARK 

167 Anti-Slavery Days... ..... 23 

BY S. T. COLERIDGE 

523 Poems .....3o 


a 


LOVELL’S 

BY WILKIE COLLINS 


8 The Moonstone, Part 1 10 

9 The Moonstone, Part II 10 

24 The New Magdalen 20 

87 Heart and Science 20 

418 “I Say No” 20 

437 Tales of Two Idle Apprentices 15 

683 The Ghost’s Touch 10 

686 My Lady’s Money 10 

722 The Evil Genius 20 

839 The Guilty River 10 

957 The Dead Secret 20 

996 The Queen of Hearts 20 

1003 The Haunted Hotel 10 

BY HUGH CONWAY 

429 Called Back 15 

462 Dark Days 35 

612 Carriston’s Gift 10 

617 Paul Vargas: a Mystery 10 

631 A Family Affair 20 

667 Story of a Sculptor 10 

672 Slings and Arrows 10 

715 A Cardinal Sin 20 

745 Living or Dead 20 

750 Somebody’s Story , 10 

968 Bound by a Spell 20 

BY J. FENIMORE COOPER 

6 The Last of the Mohicans 20 

53 The Spy 20 

365 The Pathfinder 20 

378 Homeward Bound 20 

441 Home as Found 20 

463 The Deerslayer 30 

467 The Prairie 20 

471 The Pioneer 25 

484 The Two Ad mirals 20 

485 The Water- Witch 20 

491 The Red Rover 20 

501 The Pilot 20 

506 Wing and Wing 20 

512 Wyandotte 20 

517 Heidenmauer 20 

519 The Headsman 20 

524 The Bravo 20 

527 Lionel Lincoln 20 

529 Wept of Wish-ton- Wish 20 

532 Afloat and Ashore 25 

539 Miles Wallingford 20 

543 The Monikins 20 

548 Mercedes of Castile 20 

553 The Sea Lions 20 

559 The Crater 20 

562 Oak Openings 20 

570 Satanstoe 20 

576 The Chain-Bearer 20 

587 Ways of the Hour 20 

60 1 Precaution 20 

603 Redskins 25 

611 Jack Tier ....20 

BY KINAHAN CORNWALLIS 

409 Adrift with a Vengeance 25 

BY THE COUNTESS 

1028 A Passion Flower 20 

1041 The World Between Them 20 

BY GEORGIANA M. CRAIK 

1006 A Daughter of the People. 20 


LIBRARY. 


350 

BY R. CRISWELL 

Grandfather Lickthingle 

.28 

464 

BY R. K. DANA, JR. 

Two Years before the Mast 

.20 

345 

BY DANTE 

Dante’s Vision of Hell, Purgatory, 


and Paradise. 

.20 

260 

BY FLORA A. DARLING 

Mrs. Darling’s War Letters 

.20 

315 

BY JOYCE DARRELL 

Winifred Power 

.20 

478 

BY ALPHONSE DAUBET 

Tartarin of Tarascon 

.20 

604 

Sidoriic 

.20 

613 

Jack 

.20 

615 

The Little Good-for-Nothing 

.20 

645 

Tne Nabob 

.25 

BY REV. C. H. DAVIES, D.D. 


453 

Mystic London 

.20 


BY THE BEAN OF ST. PAUL'S 

431 Life of Spenser 10 

BY C. DEBANS 

475 A Sheep in Wolf’s Clothing 20 

BY REV. C. F. DEEMS, B.D. 

704 Evolution 20 

BY DANIEL DEFOE 

428 Robinson Crusoe 25 

BY THOS. DE QUINCEY 

20 The Spanish Nun 10 

BY CHARLES DICKENS 

10 Oliver Twist 20 

38 A Tale of Two Cities 20 

75 Child’s History of England 20 

91 Pickwick Papers, 2 Parts, each 20 

140 The Cricket on the Hearth 30 

144 Old Curiosity Shop, 2 Parts, each.. . 15 

150 Barnaby Rudge, 2 Parts, each 15 

158 David Copperfield, 2 Parts, each 20 

170 Hard Times 20 

192 Great Expectations 20 

201 Martin Chuzzlewit, 2 Parts, each. . . .20 

210 American Notes 20 

219 Dombey and Son, 2 Parts, each 20 

223 Little Dorrit, 2 Parts, each. 20 

228 Our Mutual Friend, 2 Parts, each... 20 

231 Nicholas Nickleby, 2 Parts, each 20 

234 Pictures from Italy 10 

237 The Boy at Mugby 10 

244 Bleak House, 2 Parts, each 20 

246 Sketches of the Young Couples 10 

261 Muster Humphrey’s Clock 10 

267 The Haunted House, etc 10 

270 The Mudfog Papers, etc 10 

273 Sketches by Boz 20 

274 A Christmas Carol, etc 15 

282 Uncommercial Traveller 20 

288 Somebody’s Luggage, etc 10 

293 The Battle of Life, etc 10 

297 Mystery of Edwin Drood 20 

298 Reprinted Pieces 20 

302 N o Thoroughfare 15 

437 Tales of Two Idle Apprentices., , , ,10 


LOVELL’S LIBRARY. 


BY CARL BETLEF 

27 Irene; or, The Lonely Manor 20 

BY PROF. BOWDEN 

404 Life of Southey 10 

BY JOHN BRYDEN 

498 Poems 30 

BY DU BOISGOBEY 

1018 Condemned Door 20 

BY THE “DUCHESS” 

58 Portia 20 

76 Molly Bawn 20 

78 Phyllis 20 

86 Monica 10 

90 Mrs. Geoffrey 20 

92 Airy Fairy Lilian 20 

126 Loys, Lord Beresford 20 

132 Moonshine and Marguerites 10 

162 Faith and Unfaith 20 

168 Beauty’s Daughters 20 

284 Rossmoyne 20 

451 Doris 20 

477 A Week in Killarney 10 

530 In Durance Vile 10 

618 Dick’s Sweetheart ; or, “ O Tender 

Dolores” 20 

621 A Maiden all Forlorn 10 

624 A Passive Crime 10 

721 Lady Branksmere 20 

735 A Mental Struggle 20 

737 The Haunted Chamber 10 

792 Her Week’s Amusement 10 

802 Lady Valworth's Diamonds 20 

BY LORD DUFFERIN 

95 Letters from High Latitudes 20 

BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS 

761 Count of Monte Cristo, Part 1 20 

761 Count of Monte Cristo, Part II 20 

775 The Three Guardsmen 20 

786 Twenty Years After 20 

884 The Son of Monte Cristo, Part I 20 

884 The Son of Monte Cristo, Part II.. .20 

885 Monte Cristo and His Wife 20 

891 Countess of Monte Cristo, Parti. ..20 

891 Countess of Monte Cristo, Part II.. .20 

998 Beau Tancrede 20 

BY ALEXANDRE DUMAS, JR. 

992 Camille 10 

BY MRS. ANNIE EDWARDS 

681 A Girton Girl 20 

BY GEORGE ELIOT 

56 Adam Bede, 2 Parts, each 15 

69 Amos Barton , 10 

71 Silas Marner 10 

79 llomola, 2 Parts, each 15 

349 Janet’s Repentance 10 

151 Felix Holt 20 

174 Middlemarch, 2 Parts, each 2U 

195 Daniel Deronda, 2 Parts, each 20 

202 Theophrastus Such 10 

205 The Spanish Gypsy, and other Poems20 

207 The Mill on the Floss, 2 Parts, each. 15 

208 Brother Jacob, etc 10 

374 Essays, and Leaves from a Note- 

" Book 20 


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203 Disarmed 15 

663 The Flower of Doom 10 

1005 hi ext of Kin 20 

BY RALPH WALDO EMERSON 

373 Essays 20 

ENGLISH MEN OF LETTERS. 
EDITED BY JOHN MORLEY 

348 Banyan, by J. A. Froude 10 

407 Burke, by John Morley ,10 

334 Burns, by Principal Shairp 10 

347 Byron, by Professor Nichol 10 

413 Chaucer, by Prof. A. W. Ward 10 

424 Cowper, by Goldwin Smith 10 

377 Defoe, by William Minto 10 

383 Gibbon, by J. C. Morrison 10 

225 Goldsmith, by William Black 10 

369 Hume, by Professor Huxley 10 

401 Johnson, by Leslie Stephen 10 

380 Locke, by Thomas Fowler 10 

392 Milton, by Mark Pattison 10 

398 Pope, by Leslie Stephen 10 

364 Scott, by R. H. Hutton 10 

361 Shelley, by J. Symonds 10 

404 Southey, by Professor Dowden 10 

431 Spenser, by the Dean of St. Paul’s.. 10 

344 Thackeray, by Anthony Trollope. ..10 

410 Wordsworth, by F. Myers 10 

BY B. L. FARJEON 

243 Gautran ; or, House of White Shad- 
ows 20 

654 Love’s Harvest 20 

856 Golden Bells 10 

874 Nine of Hearts 20 

BY HARRIET FARLEY 

473 Christmas Stories 20 

BY F. W. FARRAR, D.D. 

1 9 Seekers after God 20 

50 Early Days of Christianity, 2 Parts, 

each 20 

BY GEORGE MANNVILLE FENN 

1004 This Man’s Wife 20 

BY OCTAVE FEUILLET 

41 A Marriage in High Life 20 

987 Romance of a Poor Young Man 10 

BY FRIEDRICH, BARON DE LA 
MOTTE FOUQUE 

711 Undine 10 

BY MRS. FORRESTER 

760 Fair Women 20 

818 Once Again 20 

843 My Lord and My Lady 20 

844 Dolores 20 

850 My Hero 20 

859. Viva 20 

8(50 Omnia Yanitas 10 

8(51 Diana Carew 20 

862 From Olympus to Hades 20 

863 Rhona 20 

864 Roy and Viola . ... * .... 20 

865 J une 20 

866 Mignon 20 

867 A Young Man’s Fancy 2f 


5 


LOVELL’S LIBRARY 


BY THOMAS FOWLER 

880 Life of Locke 10 

BY FRANCESCA 

177 The Story of Ida 10 

BY R. E. FRANCILLQN 

810 A Real Queen 20 

856 Golden Bells 10 

BY ALBERT FRANKLYN 

122 Ameline de Bourg 15 

BY L. VIRGINIA FRENCH 

485 My Roses 20 

BY J. A. FROUDE 

348 Life of Bunyan 10 

BY EMILE GABORIAU 

114 Monsieur Lecoq, 2 Parts, each 20 

116 The Lerouge Case 20 

120 Other People’s Money 20 

129 In Peril of His Life 20 

138 The Gilded Clique 20 

155 Mystery of Orcival 20 

161 Promise of Marriage 10 

258 File No. 113 ....20 

BY HENRY GEORGE 

52 Progress and Poverty 20 

300 Land Question 10 

303 Social Problems 20 

796 Property in Land 15 

BY CHARLES GIBBON 

57 The Golden Shaft 20 

BY J. W. VON GOETHE 

342 Goethe's Faust 20 

343 Goethe's Poems 20 

BY NIKOLAI V. GOGOL 

1016 Taras Bulla 20 

BY OLIVER GOLDSMITH 

51 Vicar of Wakefield 10 

362 Plays and Poems 20 

BY MRS. GORE 

89 The Dean’s Daughter .20 

BY JAMES GRANT 

49 The Secret Despatch 20 

BY HENRI GREVILLE. 

1C01 Frankley 20 

BY CECIL GRIFFITH 

732 Victory Deane 20 

BY ARTHUR GRIFFITHS 

709 No. 99 10 

THE BROTHERS GRIMM 

221 Fairy Tales, Illustrated 20 

BY LIEUT. J. W. GUNNISON 

440 History of the Mormons 15 

BY ERNST HAECKEL 

97 India and Ceylon ,.20 

BY MARION HARLAND 

107 Housekeeping and Homemaking 15 

6 


BY F. W. HACKLANDER 

606 Forbidden Fruit 20 

BY H. RIDER HAGGARD 

813 King Solomon’s Mines 20 

848 She 20 

876 The Witch’s Head 20 

900 Jess 20 

941 Dawn 20 

1020 Allan Quatermain 20 

BY A. EGMONT HAKE 

371 The Story of Chinese Gordon 20 

BY LUDOVIC HALEVY 

15 L’ Abbe Constantin 20 

BY THOMAS HARDY 

43 Two on a Tower 20 

157 Romantic Adventures of a Milk- 
maid 10 

749 The Mayor of Casterbridge 20 

956 The Woodlanders 20 

964 Far from the Madding Crowd 20 

BY JOHN HARRISON AND M. 
COMPTON 

414 Over the Summer Sea 20 

BY J. B. HARWOOD 

269 One False, both Fair 20 

BY JOSEPH HATTON 

7 Clytie 20 

137 Cruel London 20 

BY NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE 

370 Twice Told Tales 20 

376 Grandfather’s Chair 20 

BY MARY CECIL HAY 

466 Under the Will 10 

§66 The Arundel Motto 20 

590 Old Myddleton’s Money 20 

787 A Wicked Girl 10 

971 Nora’s Love Test 20 

972 The Squire’s Legacy 20 

9Y3 Dorothy’s Venture 20 

• 974 My First Offer 10 

975 Back to the Old Home 10 

976 For Her Dear Sake 20 

977 Hidden Perils 20 

978 Victor and Vanquished 20 

BY MRS. FELICIA HEMANS 

583 Poems 30 

BY DAVID J. HILL, LL.D. 

533 Principles and Fallacies of Social- 
ism 15 

BY M. L. HOLBROOK, M.D. 

356 Hygiene of the Brain 25 

BY MRS. M. A. HOLMES 

709 Woman against Woman 20 

743 A Woman’s Vengeance 20 

BY PAXTON HOOD 

73 Life of Cromwell 15 

BY THOMAS HOOD 

511 Poems , 30 


LOVELL’S LIBRARY. 


BY HORRY AND WEEMS 

36 Life of Marion 20 

BY EGBERT HOUDIN 

14 The Tricks of the Greeks 20 

BY ADAH M. HOWARD 

970 Against Her Will 20 

993 The Child Wife 10 

BY EDWARD HOWLAND 

742 Social Solutions, Part I 10 

747 “ 4 ‘ Part II 10 

758 “ “ Part III 10 

762 44 44 Partly 10 

765 44 44 PartV 10 

774 44 44 Part V I 10 

77 8 4 4 44 Part VII 10 

78 2 44 44 Part VIII 10 

785 44 44 Part IX 10 

788 44 44 Part X 10 

791 “ 44 Part XI 10 

795 44 44 Part XII 10 

BY MARIE HOWLAND 

634 Papa’s Own Girl 30 

BY JOHN W. HOYT, LL.D. 

635 Studies in Civil Service 15 

BY THOMAS HUGHES 

Cl Tom Brown’s School Day* 20 

186 Tom Brown at Oxford, 2 Parts, each . 15 

BY PROF. HUXLEY 

£69 Life of Hume 10 

BY STANLEY HUNTLEY 

309 The Spoopendyke Papers 20 

BY VICTOR HUGO 

784 Les Miserables, Part 1 20 

784 “ “ Part II 20 

78 4 44 44 Part III 20 

BY R. H. HUTTON 

864 Life of Scott 20 

BY WASHINGTON IRVING 

147 The Sketch Book 20 

198 Tales of a Traveller 20 

199 Life and Voyages of Columbus, 

Part 1 20 

Life and Voyages of Columbus, 

Part II 20 

224 Abbotsford and Newstead Abbey . . .10 

236 Knickerbocker History of New York. 20 

249 The Crayon Papers 20 

263 The Alhambra 15 

272 Conquest of Granada 20 

279 Conquest of Spain 10 

281 Bracebridge Hall 20 

290 Salmagundi. 20 

299 Astoria 20 

801 Spanish Voyages 20 

305 A Tour on the Prairies 10 

308 Life of Mahomet, 2 Parts, each 15 

310 Oliver Goldsmith 20 

311 Captain Bonneville 20 

314 Moorish Chronicles 10 

321 W olf ert’ s Roost and Miscellanies — 10 


EY HARRIET JAY 

17 The Dark Colleen 26 

BY SAMUEL JOHNSON 

44 Rasselas 10 

BY MAURICE JOKAI 

754 A Modern Midas 20 

BY JOHN HEATS 

531 Poems 25 

BY EDWARD KELLOGG 

111 Labor and Capital 20 

BY GRACE KENNEDY 

1C6 Dunalkin, 2 Parts, each 15 

BY JOHN P. KENNEDY 

67 Horse- Shoe Robinson, 2 Parts, each .15 

BY CHARLES KINGSLEY 

39 The Hermits 20 

64 Hypatia, 2 Parts, each 15 

BY HENRY KINGSLEY 

728 Austin Eliot 20 

728 The Hillyars and Burtons 20 

731 Leighton Court 20 

736 Geoffrey Hamlyn . 30 

BY W. H. G. KINGSTON 

254 Peter the Whaler 20 

322 Mark Sea worth 20 

824 Round the World 20 

335 The Young Foresters 20 

337 Saltwater 20 

338 The Midshipman 20 

BY F. KIRBY 

454 The Golden Dog 40 

BY A. LA POINTE 

445 The Rival Doctors 20 

BY MISS MARGARET LEE 

25 Divorce 20 

600 A Brighton Night 20 

725 Dr. Wilmer’s Love 25 

741 Lorimer and Wife 20 

BY VERNON LEE 

797 A Phantom Lover 10 

798 Prince of the Hundred Soups 10 

EY JULES LERMINA 

469 The Chase 20 

BY CHARLES LEVER 

327 Harry Lorrequer 20 

789 Charles O’Malley, 2 Parts, each 20 

794 Tom Burke of Ours, 2 Parts, each.. 20 

BY H. W. LONGFELLOW 

1 Hyperion 20 

2 Outre-Mer 20 

482 Poems.... 20 

BY SAMUEL LOVER 

163 The Happy Man 10 

719 Rory O’More 20 

849 Handy Andy „2C 


7 


lOVELL’S library 


BY COMMANDER LOVETT-CAM- 


817 The Cruise of the Black Prince. . . .20 

BY MRS. H. LOVETT-CAMERON 

927 Pure Gold 20 

BY HENRY W. LUCY 

96 Gideon Fleyce 20 

BY HENRY C. LUKE NS 

131 Jets and Flashes 20 

BY EDNA LYALL 

962 Ivnights-Errant 20 

BY E. LYNN LYNTON 

2T5 lone Stewart 20 

BY LORD LYTTON 

1 1 The Coming Race 10 

12 Leila 10 

81 Ernest Maltravers 20 

82 The Haunted House 10 

45 Alice: A Sequel to Ernest Maltra- 
vers 20 

55 A Strange Story 20 

59 Last Days of Pompeii 20 

81 Zanoni 20 

84 Night and Morning, 2 Parts, each.. 15 

117 Paul Clifford 20 

121 Lady of Lyons 10 

128 Money 10 

152 Richelieu 10 

160 Rienzi, 2 Parts, each 15 

176 Pelham 20 

204 Eugene Aram 20 

222 The Disowned 20 

240 Kenelm Chillingly 20 

245 What Will He Do with It ? 2 Parts, 

each 20 

217 Devereux 20 

250 The Caxtons, 2 Parts, each 15 

253 Lucretia 20 

255 Last of the Barons, 2 Parts, each ... 15 

259 The Parisians, 2 Parts, each 20 

271 My Novel, 3 Parts, each 20 

276 Harold, 2 Parts, each 15 

289 Godolphin 20 

294 Pilgrims of the Rhine 15 

317 Pausanias 15 

BY LORD MACAULAY 

333 Lays of Ancient Rome 20 

BY KATHERINE S. MACQUOID 

898 Joan Wentworth 20 

BY E. MARLITT 

771 The Old Mam’selle’s Secret 20 

1029 Gold Elsie 20 

BY CAPTAIN MARRYAT 

212 The Privateersman 20 

BY HARRIET MARTINEAU 

853 Tales of the French Revolution 15 

354 Loom and Lugger 20 

357 Berkeley the Banker 20 

358 Homes Abroad 15 

363 For Each and For All 15 

372 Hill and Valley 15 

379 The Charmed Sea 15 

388 Life in the Wilds 15 

395 Sowers not Rea pers 15 

4UU Glen of the Echoes 15 


BY FLORENCE MARRYAT. 

903 The Master Passion 20 

904 A Lucky Disappointment .10 

905 Her Lord and Master 20 

906 My Own Child 20 

907 No Intentions 20 

908 Written in Fire 20 

909 A Little Stepson 10 

910 With Cupid’s Eyes 20 

931 Why Not? 20 

937 My Sister the Actress 20 

938 Captain Norton’s Diary. . „ 10 

939 Girls of Feversham 20 

940 The Root of all Evil 20 

9 .2 Facing the Footlights 20 

943 Petronel 20 

944 A Star and a Heart 10 

945 Ange 20 

946 A Harvest of Wild Oats 20 

947 The Poison of A=ps 10 

948 Fair-Haired Alda 20 

949 The Heir Presumptive 20 

950 Under the Lilies and Roses 20 

951 Heart of Jane Warner .20 

952 Love’s Conflict, Parti 20 

952 Love’s Conflict, Part II 20 

953 Phyllida 20 

954 Out of His Reckoning 10 

979 Her World against a Lie 20 

990 Open Sesame 20 

991 Mad Dumaresq 20 

999 Fighting the Air 20 

BY HELEN MATHERS 

165 Eyre's Acquittal 10 

1046 Cornin’ Thro’ the Ryo 20 

1047 Sam’s Sweetheart 20 

1018 Story of a Sin 20 

1049 Cherry Ripe 20 

1050 My Lady Green Sleeves . . .20 

BY A. MATHEY 

46 DukoofKandos 20 

60 The Two Duchesses 20 

BY W. S. MAYO 

76 The Berber 20 

by j. h. McCarthy 

115 An Outline of Irish History 10 

by justin McCarthy, m.p. 

278 Maid of Athens 20 

BY T. L. MEADE 

328 How It All Came Round 20 

BY OWEN MEREDITH 

331 Lucile 20 

BY JOHN MILTON 

389 Paradise Lost 20 

BY WILLIAM MINTO 

377 Life of Defoe 10 

BY MRS. MOLESWOBTH 

1008 Marrying and Giving in Marriage . .10 

BY THOMAS MOORE 

416 Lai la Rookh 20 

487 Poems 40 

BY J. C. MORRISON 

383 Life of Gibbon 10 


8 


LOVELL’S LIBRARY. 


BY JOHN MORLEY 

407 Life of Burke 10 

BY EDWARD H. MOTT 

139 Pike County Folks 20 

BY ALAN MUIR 

312 Golden Girls 20 

BY LOUISA MUHLBACH 

1000 Frederick the Great and his Court. .30 

1014 The Daughter of an Empress 30 

1033 Goethe and Schiller 30 

BY MAX MULLER 

130 India: What Can It Teach Us? 20 

EY DAVID CHRISTIE MURRAY 

197 By the Gate of the Sea 15 

758 Cynic Fortune 10 

BY F. MYERS 

410 Life of Wordsworth 10 

EY MISS MULOCK 

33 John Halifax 20 

435 Miss Tommy 15 

751 King Arthur 20 

BY FLORENCE NEELY 

504 Hand-Book for the Kitchen 20 

BY REV. R. H. NEWTON 

83 Right and Wrong U ses of ihe Bible . . 20 

BY JOHN NICHOL 

347 Life of Byron 10 

BY JAMES R. NICHOLS, M.D. 

375 Science at Home 20 

BY W. E. NORRIS 

108 No New Thing 20 

592 That Terrible Man 10 

779 My Friend Jim 10 

BY CHRISTOPHER NORTH 

439 Noctes Ambrosianae 30 

BY LAURENCE OLIPHANT 

196 Altiora Peto 20 

BY MRS. OLIPHANT 

124 The Ladies Lindores 20 

179 The Little Pilgrim 10 

175 Sir Tom 20 

326 The Wizard’s Son 25 

368 Old Lady Mary 10 

602 Oliver’s Bride 10 

717 A Country Gentleman 20 

831 The Son of his Father 20 

920 John : a Love Story 20 

925 A Poor Gentleman 20 

994 Lucy Crofton 10 

BY OUIDA 

112 Wanda, 2 Parts, each 15 

127 Under Two Flags, 2 Parts, each 20 

387 Princess Napraxine 25 

675 A Rainy June 4 10 

763 Moths 20 

790 Othmar 20 

805 A House Party 10 

852 Friendship. 20 

853 In Maremma 20 

854 Signa 20 

855 Pascarel, 20 


BY MAX O’RELL 

336 John Bull and His Island 20 

459 John Bull and His Daughters 20 

BY ALBERT K. OWEN 

655 Integral Co-operation 30 

BY LOUISA PARR 

42 Robin 20 

BY MARK PATTISON 

392 Life of Milton 10 

BY JAMES PAYN 

187 Thicker than Water 20 

330 The Canon’s Ward 20 

659 Luck of the Darrells 20 

BY HENRY PETERSON 

1015 Pemberton 30 

BY EDGAR ALLAN POE 

403 Poems 20 

426 Narrative of A. G-ordon Pym 15 

432 Gold Bug, and Other Tales 15 

438 The Assignation, and Other Tales.. 15 
447 The Murders in the Rue Morgue 15 

BY WILLIAM POLE, F.R.S. 

406 The Theory of the Modern Scien- 
tific Game of Whist 15 

BY ALEXANDER POPE 

391 Horners Odyssey 20 

396 Homer’s Iliad *..30 

457 Poems... 30 

BY JANE PORTER 

189 Scottish Chiefs, Part I. 20 

Scottish Chiefs, Part II 20 

382 Thaddeus of Warsaw 25 

BY C. F. POST AND FRED. C. 
LEUBUCHER 

838 The George-Hewitt Campaign 20 

BY ADELAIDE A. PROCTER 

339 Poems 20 

BY AGNES RAY 

1010 Mrs. Gregory 20 

BY CHARLES READE 

28 Singleheart and Doubleface 10 

415 A Perilous Secret 20 

759 Foul Play 20 

773 Put Yourself in his Place 20 

913 Griffith Gaunt 20 

914 A Terrible Temptation 20 

915 Very Hard Cash 20 

916 It is Never Too Late to Mend 20 

917 The Knightsbridge Mystery 10 

918 A Woman Hater 20 

919 Readiana 10 

BY REBECCA FERGUS REDD 

16 Freckles 20 

408 The Brierfield Tragedy 20 

BY “ RITA ” 

556 Dame Durden 20 

599 Like Dian’s Kiss 20 

BY SIR H. ROBERTS 

101 Harry Holbrooke *0 


9 


LOVELL’S 


BY A. M. F. KOBINSON 

184 Arden 15 

BY REGINA MARIA ROCHE 

411 Children of the Abbey 30 

BY BLANCHE ROOSEVELT 

837 Marked “ In Haste ” 20 

BY DANTE ROSSETTI 

329 Poems 20 

BY MRS. ROWSON 

159 Charlotte Temple 10 

BY JOHN RUSKIN 

497 Sesame and Lilies 10 

505 Crown of Wild Olives 10 

510 Ethics of the Dust 10 

516 Queen of the Air 10 

521 Seven Lamps of Architecture 20 

537 Lectures on Architecture and Paint- 
ing 15 

542 Stones of Venice, 3 Vols., each 25 

565 Modern Painters, Vol. 1 20 

572 “ “ Vol. II 20 

577 “ “ Vol. Ill 20 

589 “ “ Vol. IV 25 

608 “ “ Vol. V 25 

598 King of the Golden River 10 

623 Unto this Last 10 

627 Munera Pulveris 15 

637 “A Joy Forever ” 15 

639 The Pleasures of England 10 

642 The Two Paths 20 

644 Lectures on Art 15 

677 Aratra Pentelici 15 

650 Time and Tide 15 

665 Mornings in Florence 15 

668 St. Mark’s Rest 15 

670 Deucalion 15 

673 Art of England 15 

676 Eagle’s Nest 15 

679 “ Our Fathers Have Told Us” 15 

682 Proserpina 15 

685 Val d’Arno 15 

688 Lo ve’ s Meinie 15 

707 Fors Clavigera, Part 1 30 

708 “ “ Part II 30 

713 “ “ Part III 30 

714 “ “ Part IV 30 

BY W. CLARK RUSSELL 

123 A Sea Queen 20 

399 John Holdsworth 20 

833 A Voyage to the Cape 20 

834 Jack’s Courtship 20 

835 A Sailor’s Sweetheart 20 

836 On the Fo’k’sle Head 20 

997 The Golden Hope 20 

BY DORA RUSSELL 

816 The Broken Seal 20 

BY GEORGE SAND 

135 The Tower of Percemont 20 

965 The Lilies of Florence 20 

BY MRS. W. A. SAVILLE 

27 Social Etiquette 15 

BY J. X. B. SAINTINE 

710 Picciola 10 


LIBRARY. 


BY J. C. F. VON SCHILLER 

341 Schiller’s Poems 28 

BY MICHAEL SCOTT 

171 Tom Cringle’s Log 20 

BY SIR WALTER SCOTT 

145 Ivanhoe, 2 Parts, each 15 

359 Lady of the Lake, with Notes 20 

489 Bride of Lammermoor 20 

490 Black Dwarf 10 

492 Castle Dangerous .15 

493 Legend of Montrose 15 

495 The Surgeon’s Daughter 10 

499 Heart of Mid-Lothian SO 

502 Waverley 20 

504 Fortunes of Nigel 20 

509 Peveril of the Peak 30 

515 The Pirate 20 

536 Poetical Works 40 

544 Redgauntlet 25 

551 Woodstock 20 

557 Count Robert of Paris 20 

569 The Abbot 20 

575 Quentin Durward 20 

581 The Talisman 20 

586 St. Ronan’s Well 20 

595 Anne of Geierstein 20 

605 Aunt Margaret’s Mirror 10 

607 Chronicles of the Canongate 15 

609 The Monastery 20 

620 GuyMannering 20 

625 Kenilworth 25 

629 The Antiquary 20 

632 Rob Roy 20 

635 The Betrothed 20 

638 Fair Maid of Perth 20 

641 Old Mortality 20 

BY EUGENE SCRIBE 

22 Fleurette 20 

BY PRINCIPAL SHAIRP 

334 Life of Burns 10 

BY MARY W. SHELLEY 

5 Frankenstein 10 

BY PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY 

549 Complete Poetical Works 30 

BY S. SHELLEY 

191 The Nautz Family. 20 

BY WILLIAM GILMORE SIMMS 

6 10 The Partisan 30 

648 Mellich ampe 30 

653 The Yemassee 30 

657 Katherine Walton 30 

662 Southward Ho ! 30 

071 The Scout 30 

674 The Wigwam and Cabin 30 

677 Vasconselos 30 

680 Confession 30 

684 Woodcraft 30 

687 Richard Hurdis 30 

690 Guy Rivers ■. 30 

693 Border Beagles 30 

697 The Forayers 30 

702 Charlemont 30 

703 Eutaw 30 

705 Beauchampe 30 


LOVELL’S LIBRARY. 


BY J. H. SHOETEOTJSE 

832 Sir PercivaL 10 

BY J. P. SIMPSON 

125 Haunted Hearts . — 

BY EDITH 8IMC0X 

513 Men, Women, and Lovers 

BY A. P. 3INNETT 

924 Karma 

BY HAWLEY SMART 

7S0 Bad to Beat 

BY SAMUEL SMILES 

425 Self-Help 25 

BY A. SMITH 

504 A Summer in Skye 20 

BY GOLD WIN SMITH 

110 False Hopes 15 

424 Life of Cowper 10 

BY J. GREGORY SMITH 

65 Selma 15 

BY S. M. SMUCKER 

24S Life of Webster, 2 Parts, each 15 

BY F. SPIELHAGEN 

449 Quisiana 20 

BY LESLIE STEPHEN 

896 Life of Pope 10 

401 Life of Johnson 10 

BY STARKWEATHER AND 
WILSON 

461 Socialism 10 

BY STEPNIAK 

173 Underground Russia 20 

BY ROBERT LOUIS STEVENSON 


BY NIKOLAI G. T0HERNUISH- 


COSKY 

' 1017 A Vital Question 


.30 


446 


10 


20 


20 


10 i Tc 


767 

768 

769 

770 
793 
819 
921 


Kidnapped 20 

Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. 

Hyde 10 

Prince Otto 10 

The Dynamiter 20 

New Arabian Nights 20 

Treasure Island 20 

The Merry Men 20 

BY HESBA SIRETTON 

729 In Prison and Out 20 

BY EUGENE SUE 

772 Mysteries of Paris, 2 Parts, each . . .20 
776 The Wandering Jew, 2 Parts, each .20 

BY DEAN SWIFT 

68 Gulliver’ s Travels 2C 

BY CHAS. ALGERNON SWIN- 
EURNE. 

412 Poems 20 

BY J. A. SYMONDS 

86J. Life of Shelley 10 

BY H. A. TAINE 

442 Taine's English Literature 40 


141 
143 
148 
156 
164 
172 
! 193 
! 211 
220 
229 
235 
238 
252 
! 256 
j 262 
! 264 
280 
283 
285 
28G 
292 
296 
I 300 

303 

304 
306 
807 
309 
313 
316 
320 


BY LORD TENNYSON 

Poems 40 

BY W. M. THACKERAY 

Henry Esmond 20 

Denis Duval 20 

Catherine 10 

Lovel, the Widower 10 

Barry Lyndon 20 

Vanity Fair 30 

History of Pendennis, 2 Parts, each.. 20 

The Newcomes, 2 Parts, each 20 

Book of Snobs 10 

Paris Sketches 20 

Adventures of Philip, 2 Parts, each . . 15 

The Virginians, 2 Parts, each 20 

Critical Reviews, etc 10 

Eastern Sketches 10 

Fatal Boots, etc 10 

The Four Georges 10 

Fitzboodle Papers, etc 10 

Roundabout Papers 20 

A Legend of the Rhine, etc 10 

Cox's Diary, etc 10 

Irish Sketches, etc 20 

Men’s Wives 10 

Novels by Eminent Hands 10 

Character Sketches, etc 10 

Christmas Books ..20 

Ballads 15 

Yellcwplush Papers 10 

Sketches and Travels in London .... 10 

English Humorists 15 

Great Hoggarty Diamond 1C 

The Rose and the Ring 10 


BY JUDGE D. P. THOMPSON 

21 The Green Mountain Boys 20 

BY THEODORE TILTON 

94 Tempest Tossed , Part 1 20 

94 Tempest Tossed, Part II 20 


133 

251 

844 

367 


BY ANTHONY TROLLOPE 

Mr. Scarborough's Family, 2 Parts, 

each 15 

Autobiography of Anthony Trollope. 20 

Life of Thackeray 10 

An Old Man's Love 15 


BY F. A. TUPPER 

895 Moonshine 

BY J. VAN LENNEP 

468 The Count of Talavera 

BY VIRGIL 

540 Poems 


.20 


.20 


34 

35 
154 
166 
185 


855 


25 

BY JULES VERNE 

800 Leagues on the Amazon 10 

The Cryptogram 10 

Tour of the World in Eighty Days. .20 
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea . . . 20 
The Mysterious Island, 3 Parts, each.15 

BY QUEEN VICTORIA 

More Leaves from a Life in the High- 
lands 15 


LOVELL' S LIBRARY. 


BY L. B. WALFORD. 

1055 Mr. Smith ..20 

3050 The History of a Week. .10 

3057 The Baby’s Grandmother 20 

1058 Troublesome Daughter 20 

1050 Cousins 20 

BY GEORGE WALKER 

13 The Three Spaniards 20 

BY PROF. A. W. WARD 

413 Life of Chaucer 10 

BY F. WARDED 

757 Doris’ Fortune 10 

080 At the W orld’ s Mercy 10 

981 The House on the Marsh 20 

982 Deldee 20 

983 A Prince of Darkness 20 

BY SAMUEL WARREN 

935 Ten Thousand a Year, Part I .20 

“ “ “ Part II 20 

“ •« “ Part III ....20 

BY DESHLER WELCH 

427 Life of Grover Cleveland 20 

BY E. WERNER 

614 At a High Price 20 

734 Yineta 20 

BY MRS. HENRY WOOD 

54 East Lynne 20 

902 The Mystery 20 

BY MRS. WHITCKER 

194 Widow Bedott Papers 20 

BY J. G. WHITTIER 

450 Poems 20 

BY VIOLET WHYTE 

963 Her Johnnie 20 

BY W. M. WILLIAMS 

80 Science in Short Chapters 20 


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352 Poems 20 

BY C. F. WINGATE 

830 Twilight Club Tracts 20 

BY EDMUND YATES 

723 Running the Gauntlet 20 

724 Broken to Harness 20 

BY CHARLOTTE M. YONGE 

858 A Modern Telemachus 20 

899 Love and Life 20 

BY ERNEST A. YOUNG 

666 Barbara’s Rival 20 

691 A Woman’s Honor 20 

MISCELLANEOUS 

26 Life of Washington 20 

37 Paul and Virginia 10 

47 Baron Munchausen 10 

63 The Vendetta, by Balzac 20 

66 Margaret and her Bridesmaids 20 

72 Queen of the County .20 

98 The Gypsy Queen 20 

118 A New Lease of Life 20 

169 Beyond the Sunrise 20 

181 Whist, or Bumblepuppy? 10 

360 Modern Christianity a Civilized 

Heathenism 15 

265 Plutarch’s Lives, 5 Parts, each 20 

291 Famous Funny Fellows 20 

323 Life of Paul Jones 20 

332 Every-Day Cook-Book 20 

340 Clayton’s Rangers 20 

385 Swiss Family Robinson 20 

386 Childhood of the World 10 

397 Arabian Nights’ Entertainments 25 

402 How He Reached the White House. 25 

433 Wrecks in the Sea of Life 20 

434 Typhaines Abbey 25 

483 The Child Hunters 15 

857 A Wilful Young Woman 20 

966 The Story of Our Mess 20 

967 The Three Bummers 20 

1019 Soeur Louise 20 


Any number in the above list can generally be obtained from all booksellers and 
newsdealers, or when it cannot be so obtained, will be sent, free by mail, on receipt of 
price by the publishers. 

JOHN W. LOVELL COMPANY, 

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12 


P. O. Box 1992. 





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This admirable series of Popular Books is printed on 
heavier and larger paper than other cheap series, and is 
substantially bound in an attractive cover. 

The following are the earlier issues. The best works of 
new fiction will be added as rapidly as they appear. 


1 A Wicked Girl, by M. C. Hay 25 

2 The Moonstone, by Collins 25 

3 Moths, by Ouida .25 

4 Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll, by R. L. 

Stevenson ; and Faust 25 

6 Peck’s Bad Boy and bfc Pa, by Geo. 

W. Peck 25 

6 Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Bronte 25 

7 Peck’s Sunshine, by Geo. W. Peck. .25 

8 Adam Bede, by George Eliot 25 

9 Bill Nye and Boomerang, by Bill 

Nye Himself 25 

10 What Will the World Say ? 25 

11 Lime Kiln Club, by M Quad 25 

12 She, by H. Rider Haggard 25 

13 Dora Thorne, by B. M. Clay 25 

14 File No. 113, by E. Gaboriau 25 

15 Phyllis, by The Duchess 25 

16 Lady Val worth’s Diamonds, and The 
Haunted Chamber, by The Duchess.25 

17 A House Party, and A Rainy June, 

by Ouida 25 

18 Set in Diamonds, by B. M. Clay 25 

19 Her Mother’s Sin, by B. M. Clay. . . .25 

20 Other People’s Money, by Gaboriau.25 

21 Airy Fairy Lilian, by The Duchess.. 25 

22 In Peril of His Life, by Gaboriau 25 

23 The Old Mam’selle’s Secret, by E. A. 

Marlitt 25 

24 The Guilty River and The New Mag- 

dalen, by Wilkie Collins 25 

25 John Halifax, by Miss Mulock 25 

26 Marjorie, by B. M. Clay 25 

27 Lady Audley’s Secret, by Braddon. .25 

23 Peck’s Fun, by George W. Peck 25 

29 Thoms and Orange Blossoms, by B. 

M. Clay 25 

30 East Lynne, by Mrs. Wood 25 

31 King Solomon’s Mines, by Haggard.. 25 

32 The Witch’s Head, by Haggard 25 

33 The Master Passion, by Marryat 25 

U Jess, by H. Rider Haggard 25 


35 Molly Bawn, by The Duchess .25 

36 Fair Women, by Mrs. Forrester 25 

37 The Merry Men, by Stevenson 25 

33 Old Myddleton’s Money, by Hay 25 

39 Mrs. Geoffrey, by The Duchess 25 

40 Hypatia, by Rev. Charles Kingsley. .25 

41 What Would You Do Love? 25 

42 Eli Perkins, Wit, Humor, and Pa- 

thos 25 

43 Heart and Science, by Collins 25 

44 Baled Hay, by Bill Nye 25 

45 Harry Lorrequer, by Lever 25 

46 Called Back and Dark Days, by Hugh 

Conway 25 

47 Endymion, by Benjamin Disraeli 25 

48 Claribel’s Love Story, by B. M. Clay. 25 

49 Forty Liars, by Bill Nye 25 

50 Dawn, byH. Rider Haggard 25 

51 Shadow of a Sin, and Wedded and 

Parted, by B. M. Clay 25 

52 Wee Wifie, by Rosa N. Carey 25 

53 The Dead Secret, by Collins 25 

54 Count of Monte Cristo, by Dumas... 50 

55 The Wandering Jew, by Sue 50 

56 The Mysteries of Paris, by Sue 50 

57 Middlemarch, by George Eliot 50 

5S Scottish Chiefs, by Jane Porter 50 

59 Under Two Flags, by Ouida 50 

60 David Copperfield, by Dickens 50 

61 Monsieur Lecoq, by Gaboriau 50 

62 Springhaven, by R. D. Blackmore.. .25 

63 Speeches of Henry Ward Beecher on 

the War, 50 

64 A Tramp Actor 25 

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995 Which Shall it Be ? by Mrs. Alex- 

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1005 Next of Kin Wanted, by M. Beth- 

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1006 A Daughter of the People, by 

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1007 Redeemed by Love, by B. M. Clay. 20 

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1042 The Earl's Error, by B. M. Clay. . 10 

1043 Arnold’s Promise, by B. M. Clay.,10 

1044 Forging the Fetters, by Mrs. Alex- 

ander 10 

1045 The Trappers of Arkansas, by 

Gustave Aimard 10 


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THE 


WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS 


CHAPTER I. 

AT FASSLIE FARM. 

Deep and heavy the long-swelling surge of the North Sea thun- 
dered along the Cromarty shore ; and high and shrill above that 
reverberating plunge sang and whistled and shrieked a strenuous 
wind, sweeping inland from the wide waste of waters ; but never- 
theless there was not a cloud in the clear night sky ; the world 
was tilled with a lambent white moonlight ; and far across the 
silver-touched waves there was visible the dusky outline of the 
opposite coast, by Fort George, and Nairn, and Findliorn, and 
Burghead. 

In a small and dimly lit room in a farm-house built high over 
that wild sea, an old — or, rather, elderly — man was seated in front 
of a massive iron chest, the toil of which he was carefully scraping 
with some kind of iron instrument. He w r as a man short of stat- 
ure, but of powerful build ; his face hard set and tanned and 
farrowed with wind and sun and rain ; his' hair almost white, and 
white also the bushy eyebrows set over a pair of remarkably pen- 
etrating gray eyes. This man was Robert Graham, the tenant of 
an extensive sheep farm ; and the huge iron coffer before him, 
from which he was diligently scraping the last traces of whatever 
paint might still be visible, had been at one time the military 
chest of the garrison of Fort Augustus, from whence it had been 
allowed to fall into private hands when the fort was dismantled. 
But it was not the contents of this massive chest that seemed to 
concern the farmer ; it was the few remaining touches of green 


4 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


paint here and there ; and to aid him in the searching removal of 
these he had placed a solitary candle beside him, though, indeed, 
as the coffer stood in the window-recess, there was almost enough 
light coming in from the moonlit world without to enable him to 
X3rosecute his task. 

Now so still and hushed was this little room that, in spite of all 
the wild roar of the wind and sea outside, the scratching of the 
iron point was quite audible ; and not only that, but also certain 
low mutterings with which from time to time the old man gave 
expression to such fancies as crossed his brain. But these were 
broken and detached, for sometimes he relapsed into silence, and 
so it will be more convenient to put them down here consecutively 
and in as plain language as possible. 

“ I am not more superstitious than most ; but it’s better to be 
on the safe side. The earth is the Lord’s and the fulness thereof ; 
but He has permitted strange things to be in the world, and maybe 
they have grown stronger than He intended, and can do more harm 
now. It’s better to be friendly with both sides ; and if there was 
a Sith-brutli* on Fasslie, it’s not a man or boy on the place would 
I allow to cut a twig or lift a stone there. It’s live and let live ; 
and if the little people bide in these knolls, it’s not I that would 
be for disturbing them ; even if they cannot harm a man, as some 
say, maybe they can harm a sheep — ay, or a score of sheep. . . 

And were there no Grahams, now, among the soldiers of Fort 
Augustus that they allowed this chest to be painted green ? Is 
there a Graham alive that does not know what color it is that is 
fatal to every one of the name — ay, when it is even a common story 
that never was a Graham shot in battle but it was found the bullet 
had gone through the green check of the tartan ? And twice and 
three times I stopped bidding for it ; until I said to myself : 
What has been put on can be taken off, and what the knife will 
not finish the turpentine will finish ; and where can the ill-luck 
come from then ? The five great locks, and tricks, and contriv- 
ances to outwit a regiment ; what prying eyes or fingers will get 
to know about my business when I have everything shut up here ? 
Alison may think what she likes ; the lass has grown saucy of late ; 


* Sith-bruth — A fairies’ dwelling; generally a rocky mound, under which 
the fairies are supposed to live. 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


5 


but this is no kind of cupboard or desk that she can try with he! 
keys when I am up on the hill. No, no, lass ; what I have toiled 
and moiled for, that I mean to keep ; and there will be no need to 
trust a bank in Inverness when I have a safeguard like this iron 
chest. . . . But not a spot or streak of green — not a spot or 

streak. Who can tell where the ill-luck comes from ? Sometimes 
it strikes at your blood and marrow; sometimes it’s a bad lambing 
season ; sometimes it’s a bank that breaks. But I do my best to 
keep well with both sides ; the minister has no fault to find with 
me ; and if there are things that are stronger for good-luck or ill- 
luck I do my best — ay, even to keep from naming them. Maybe 
that was why I got the warning that Jean Gillespie was to die — 
three taps on the window just half an hour before, and none hear- 
ing them but myself. And the corpse-lights on Drumsinnon Moor 
— it’s I would have ridden along with the factor into the bog but 
for the lights — and I cried to him — but the cry he sent back was the 
cry of a drowning man. But there are some that have seen more 
than that, and have heard more than that ; and it’s well to be 
friends with them that can hurt — whether they are below ground 
or above ; ay, its better to say nothing, lest they should hear evil 
spoken of them, and work mischief among the lambs, or bring 
lightning about the house, as I have heard tell. Not since I was a 
senseless lad have I shot a single hare — just in case there might 
be a mistake, and a witch or a w T arlock spring up from the ground ; 
it’s better to be on the safe side.” 

For the moment he seemed to have done with his scraping and 
polishing ; at all events, he laid aside the knife and chisel he had 
been using, and proceeded to open the chest. But this w r as a 
serious undertaking, for not only had the big key to turn five 
locks at once, but also there were bars and levers to be raised 
simultaneously, demanding the exercise of a good deal of strength. 
Eventually, however, the heavy lid yielded. He took both his 
hands to raise it, and no doubt the next minute it would have 
been resting against the wall or the window-sill but that there w^as 
a sudden interruption that startled him. There was a brief, sharp 
tapping, and the door of the room was thrown open. At the same 
time the roar of the sea and the wind that seemed to fill the house 
rushed into the little apartment, and a cold air made the candle 
flame flicker. Robert Graham had not been expecting any such 


6 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS . 


unceremonious visitor. lie wheeled round in his chair ; the lid 
of the chest slipped from his hand and shut with an alarming noise 
« — all the five locks and levers clanging at once ; and then he found 
standing before him the stranger who had made this sudden 
entrance. 

And yet this w T as neither ghost nor wizard that confronted him. 
On the contrary, the new-comer was a good-looking young fellow 
of six-and-twenty or so, with frank eyes, close-cropped raven-black 
hair, and an expression of features that in ordinary circumstances 
might have been pleasant and friendly enough , but was now some- 
what embarrassed by uncertainty. Obviously he was a sailor, but 
the smartness of his costume showed that he was not an ordinary 
hand. In point of fact, he was mate of a trading schooner then 
lying at Nairn ; his name, Alec Jameson. 

“ I’m sorry to interrupt you, Mr. Graham,” he began, with some 
hesitation. 

“But ye do interrupt me,” the other said sharply; and he 
scowled at the younger man from under the bushy white eyebrows. 
“ Ye do interrupt me. Think ye I have naething to do wi’ my 
time ? I’m not a gentleman that can loiter about wi’ my hands 
in my pockets, hindering other folk and coming where lie’s not 
wanted. Ma certes, there’s some that canna take a hint to leave 
until they feel a horsewhip curling round their calves.” 

There was a flash of fire in the young sailor’s eye, but he strove 
to remain calm and even courteous. 

“If it’s me you mean, Mr. Graham,” said he quietly, “you 
may rest content that there’s not a man in this country-side will 
lay either hand or horsewhip on me. But let that pass ” 

“ What do ye want?” the old farmer said, abruptly. “Time’s 
money.” 

“ Well, I’m off for Inverness to-morrow morning ” 

‘ ‘ Ye’re welcome. ” 

But Jameson seemed determined to be civil, if that were pos- 
sible. 

“ And Alison,” he continued, “ was asking if you and I cannot 
manage to part a little better friends. The lass is sorry — and no 
w r onder — and if there’s anything that I have done, if there’s any- 
thing wrong that can be put right ” 

“ Let Alison mind her own business,” was the instant rejoinder, 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


7 


“ and I can mind mine ; and, wliat’s more, neither Alison’s busi- 
ness nor mv business is any o’ yours. So you’re welcome to set 
off for Inverness as soon as ever ye like.” 

“I did not wish to go without holding out my hand and seeing 
if we cannot come to more peaceable terms,” the young sailor 
said. 4 ‘ It’s a fair offer, anyway. It must be a hard thing for a 
young lass to be in a position like that, troubling herself that the 
only friends she has should be separated by a quarrel. And a 
quarrel about what ? for I’m sure it’s not me that knows.” 

“ Alison wants no friends but her own kith and kin ; that’s enough 
for her;” the old man said. “Why should she take up wi’ 
strangers ? What is she to gain by that ? Ay, it’s not her gain, 
it’s theirs that’s in question. Ay, ay, the old man may be an old 
man, and still see clear enough. It’s young eyes that are dazzled ; 
it’s young brains that are made a fool of ; and a silly crayture of a 
lass will believe any smooth-spoken idle fellow that comes hanging 
about her and speaking her fair. But I’ll have none o’ that in this 
house, young man ; so you’ve fair washing in time. Alison was 
left in my charge, and in my charge she’ll bide. I’m for no inter- 
lopers here. I’m for people minding their own business. In 
trouble is she ? and what’s that to you ? A pretty pack of non- 
sense ! ” 

“Well, yes, Mr. Graham,” the younger man said, civilly, “Ali- 
son is in your charge at present, but she might not be always.” 

The deep-set gray eyes darted an evil glance at him, but he did 
not seem to notice that. 

“ You know what both her and me have been looking forward 
to,” he continued, in the most pacific tone of voice, “ and I am 
sure it would be better for every one if there was a more friendly 
feeling about it. And what is the objection ? If she leaves the 
farm there’s many another you could get to keep the house ” 

“ And it’s you that comes in to tell me what I maun do ! ” the 
old man said, glaring at him. “It’s you that comes to me wi’ 
advice ? Let me tell ye, my lad, that I’m quite capable o’ looking 
after my own affairs, as ye’ll find out if ye daur to meddle wi’ them. 
Ay, or wi’ Alison’s either. A clean pair o’ heels ; that’s the best 
thing for you ; and if Fasslie never sees ye again Fasslie will be 
none the worse.” 

There was sufficient discourtesy in the words ; there was more 


8 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


in the tone in which they were uttered ; and the younger man, 
though he strove to keep cool, began to lose that timid look of 
appeal that had been in his eyes. 

“ Well, it’s a pity,” he said. “ Hard words will not mend mat- 
ters ; and I had wished to leave Alison in happier spirits ” 

u The leaving her is the best thing ye can do, and the sooner 
the better. Have I not bid ye never darken my door again ? God 
bless me, is a man not to have peace and quietness in his own 
house ? ” the old man cried, angrily. 

“As to that, I am not so sure that it is your own house,” the 
young sailor said, quietly — but his face had gradually been be- 
coming firmer and firmer. “ But I am not a lawyer. It was 
Alison’s father’s house, I know ; and I dare say he did not leave 
her without her share in it. But this I’m quite sure of, as long as 
Alison is in it, and as long as she is willing I should come to see 
her, I’m not going to ask anybody else’s leave. I don’t w r ant to 
quarrel, Mr. Graham. I don’t want to make matters worse. In- 
deed, I thought I might come to some kind of friendly under- 
standing — if not for our own sakes, at least for Alison’s. The lass 
is sore put about ; and why need that be ? Why should she be in 
trouble, when there’s no cause for it ? I’m not asking her to marry 
to-morrow or the next day ; it w r ould be when it was most con- 
venient for her and for you.” 

Jameson spoke fairly and temperately, and also with a touch of 
hope — or, at least, of appeal — in his look ; but the unlucky refer- 
ence to the ownership of the house had caused the farmer’s eyes to 
gleam with wrath, and now his voice, when he spoke, was hardly 
under his control, so fiercely angry was he. 

“ And how daur ye, sir ; how daur ye come here to speak to me 
about Alison or any other in this house ? What concern have ye 
as to whether my niece is well or ill ? Ay, I will tell ye what your 
interest is ; well I know that, my fine fellow, that can go about 
the country like a gentleman, while other folk have to work and 
earn their living! Alison? — it’s not Alison, but Alison’s gear 
you’re after. And ye think that a decently brought up girl like 
that will consort with an idle wastrel and,gangrel, with a sailor 
chap, that has a wife in every port he sails to ? Get out of this 
house, sir ; that is my answer. What, do ye think the lass is 
blind ? Ye come after her wi’ your flattering and fawning ; but is 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


9 


slie blind ? Doesna she see that it’s her share, her small share, in 
the farm that you’re after, that her father left her, and that I have 
tended as it was my own ? And where would it be in a year — in a 
week — if you had it to scatter ? But she’s not blind ; she’s not 
blind ; you’ll go the w T ay ye came, and empty-handed as ye came ! ” 

He paused, for fair lack of breath ; but meanwhile the face of 
the younger man had grown darker. 

“ Alison knows better,” said he, and as if it were safer to say no 
more. 

“ Alison ! ” the old man said, with his voiced now roused to 
passion pitch. “ I’ll have her know — ay, and you, too — who is the 
master in this house. I’m for no gangrels and wastrels skulking 
about my premises — if there’s a shotgun or a horsewhip handy. 
A fine thing, to make a fool of a silly idiot of a lass, that doesna 
ken the difference between an honest man and a thief — a thief that 
would get hold of whatever she has, and waste it in his idle 
courses. But that’s no done yet ; no, nor while I’m above ground 
will it be done.” 

“ It’s the first time in my life that I have ever been called a 
thief,” Alec Jameson said — and his hands were trembling a little, 
though he spoke with a kind of forced composure. “ Well, I 
mean to see who is the thief.” 

“ What mean ye, you scoundrel ?” 

“ I mean this — plump and plain will I tell ye what I mean,” the 
younger man said, and it was evident that he had done now with 
all thoughts of pacification. “ I offered to make friends wi’ yon, 
for Alison’s sake. That’s not to be. Well and good. You and I 
will settle this matter between ourselves now, Mr. Graham ; and 
brag will not do it ; and bluster will not do it ; and calling names 
will not do it. Thief ! My good man, that is a very ugly word. 
It’s I that want to know r who is the thief ” 

“ Y/ill you leave my house?” the farmer said, springing to his 
feet. 

“ No. I will not. And I will not leave this room until I have 
said my say,” was the calm rejoinder, though Jameson’s lips were 
rather pale, and his eyes full of a dangerous fire. “ Mind you, 
Alison will be guided by me — that’s one thing you may make sure 
of ; and I’m thinking it’s time there was a settlement about her 
share in the farm that was left her by her father. Where has that 


10 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


gone to all these years ? Not a penny has she had to spend on herself 
except for clothes, and she’s clad like a servant lass ; she is but a 
servant lass, but she gets no wages. Where’s her money ? Where’s 
her father’s will, that she can tell what belongs to her ? And you 
think that everything is to go on as it is, the lass slaving away at 
keeping the house for you, and never to think of altering her con- 
dition, and never to ask questions, but to let you make away with 
her money from year to year ? But there’s an end to that now — 
there’s an end ; and the lawyers at Inverness will be called in to 
declare who is the thief.” 

Rage pure and simple seemed to have paralyzed the old farmer, 
but only for a few seconds. With a kind of an inarticulate cry of 
“ You scoundrel ! you scoundrel ! ” he sprang forward with up- 
lifted arm, as if threatening to fell his enemy. But Jameson 
merely held out his open hand palm outward. 

44 Don’t you come near me. I warn you. You’re an older man 
than I am, and I don’t want to strike you ; but I will allow no 
man to put a hand on me. I’m going. I’ve said my say. I 
wanted to be friends with you — for Alison’s sake. Now it’s war. 
And there’s them in Inverness will soon be brought to declare 
which of us two is the thief.” 

He turned abruptly and left. 

4 4 And may the lightning from heaven blast you ere ever you set 
foot in Inverness streets ! ” the older man said, scowling helplessly 
at the now vacant doorway. 

He went back to his seat in front of the iron chest, and sat 
down ; he was all shaking with the excitement of his stormy inter- 
view ; but the anger in his heart, instead of subsiding, grew only 
the more fierce as he thought of the meaning of the young sailor’s 
threats. He chanced to look out of the window at the heavily 
rolling sea that was clearly visible for miles and miles in the moon- 
light. 

44 Ay,” he said to himself, 44 that is the sailor’s grave, wide and 
deep ; that -is the thing that comes to you in the end. There are 
no threats when there’s fifty fathoms o’ water above ye— and I 
would to God you were lying there now ! The insolent scoundrel ! 
— and he has got this brat to go with him ; and the lawyers at 
Inverness ? ” 

He arose and began walking up and down the small apartment. 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


11 


muttering to himself sometimes, as was his wont, and sometimes 
standing still to look out on the far stretch of wind-driven, moon- 
lit sea. 

“ There’s them that can’t hurt,” he was saying to himself, “ and 
if all the stories be true, sometimes you can get them on your side, 
and they’ll work for you a mischief on your enemies as easily as 
anything else. I’ve heard of ships being struck by lightning com- 
ing out of a clear sky ; how was that but by some interference ? 
But he’s not on the sea, nor will be for awhile yet, I suppose ; 
the grave is waiting him there — wide and deep, wide and deep ; 
but it may be a long time yet.” 

He turned to the open door, as if fearful that these unspoken 
desires might be overheard ; then he went to the top of the stair 
and listened ; there was no sound but the cry of the wind and the 
heavier plunge of the sea ; then he returned to the room, and shut 
the door behind him, and resumed his dark meditations. 

“ The venomous snake, to come creeping into a man’s house ; 
but I’ll be even with him yet, if I burn the heather for a mile 
round him. Ay, I have seen them twisting themselves into a ball, 
and writhing as the circle of fire came closer and closer on them ; 
and that’s how I’ll have him writhe sooner or later ; and then 
there will be a laugh ! Oh, it’s very safe you are when you’re 
burning the heather ; your on the outside of the ring ; it’s the 
adders that are in the middle, and lively enough they are when 
the flame comes hotter and hotter on them. And that’s the flame 
I would have burning in his heart ! ” 

And then he went back upon the line of thinking that had oc- 
cupied him when he was scraping the last traces of paint from the 
lid of the iron chest. 

“ I have been a careful man, careful not to offend either side ; 
and if they’re friendly to me now, as I think they were when the 
factor rode into the bog, maybe they would help me. Ay, that 
would be the way to get even with him, instead of waiting for the 
wide grave there ; and maybe, if they would set to work at once, 
there might be a stop put to his business with the lawyers in In- 
verness. They say the wise women can manage it, but it’s hard 
to get at them ; the fiscal hunts them, and hunts them whenever 
he gets the chance, and there’s scarcely a one left now. But I’ve 
heard of them now and again, and I could find out ; and if the 


12 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


unknown people are friendly to me — if they understand that I 
never took a stick or a stone from a Sitk-brutli all the years of my 
life — then, my friend Jameson, I may be upsides with you ; ay, it 
will not be the lawyers in Inverness yon will be thinking of ; you 
will be writhing like the snakes when the heather is on tire.” 


CHAPTEK II. 

BY THE SHOKE. 

Meanwhile the young sailor had quickly recovered his equanim- 
ity ; as he went down the stair and along the passage to the outer 
door of the house, he was somewhat ostentatiously whistling — just 
in case one or other of the lads or lasses might happen to have 
overheard these high words. And probably in making that final 
appeal to the old man, he had been moved rather by the wish to 
please pretty Alison Graham, than by any distinct hope of suc- 
cess ; and now he was no worse off than he was before ; rather bet- 
ter he was, in truth, for this open declaration of war was preferable 
to mere shilly-shallying and futile balancing of probabilities. 
Alison would now know the worst ; she would be called upon to 
choose for herself. And as for the taunt that it w T as only her 
money that he was after — well, he would leave that question also 
to be settled by Alison, and he thought he knew what the answer 
would be. 

And so he left the house — fixing his cap tight in order to face 
the fierce gusts of wind — and set out along the road leading by 
the shore. If he was whistling now no one could hear him, for 
all the night was filled with the rush and roar of that wild, moon- 
lit sea, that came thundering in on the rocks below him ; but 
there seemed no further need to make any such professions of 
cheerfulness, for apparently he was quite alone in this strangely 
clear and vivid world. For some little distance, as he walked smartly 
on, the road followed the windings of the shore, then it struck in- 
land somewhat, skirting a plantation of larch and spruce, and 
it was at the comer of this wood that Jameson paused and 
looked around him, uncertain. He had not long to wait. The 
next moment the figure of a young woman had come quickly and 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


13 


quietly out from the dusk of the larches into the open moonlight ; 
his sweetheart was clasped in his arms. 

“ Well, Ailie, lass, it’s a wild night to be keeping you outside.” 

44 But what said he, Alec? What said he ? ” she broke in, with 
a trembling anxiety in her tone. “Is it all right now, Alec? 
Have you made friends ? ” 

The young sailor laughed in an embarrassed kind of way, and 
pushed back the thick tartan shawl which she had thrown over 
her head and shoulders, so that he could get a better view of the 
upturned oval face and tender dark blue eyes and rich and abun- 
dant chestnut-brown hair. He seemed in no hurry to begin his 
story. Those eyes were pretty to look at, despite their eager ques- 
tioning, and her brown hair that he had brought about her cheeks 
was soft to the touch. 

4 4 Tell me, Alec, is it good news you have ? ” she pleaded, for 
that short laugh of his sounded rather ominous. 

. “ Faith, Ailie, lass, the news is none of the best,” said he, though 
he spoke quite cheerfully, and petted and caressed her at the same 
time. 44 But it’s nothing to be downhearted about, not a bit, my 
brave lassie. He cannot blame you for what has happened, any- 
way, and you’ll be no worse off at the farm than before.” 

44 But what has happened then, Alec ? ” she said, with her troubled 
eyes fixed intently on him. 

44 What has happened ? Well, the fat’s in the fire this time, and 
no mistake, and that’s about what has happened, Ailie, darling,” 
said he, rather ruefully, and yet with no deep chagrin, for he 
wished to make light of the whole matter. 44 Oh ! there’s to be 
no more beating about the bush, I warrant ye ; your uncle and I 
have come to a plain understanding at last.” 

44 You’ve quarrelled — worse than ever ! ” she cried. 

“Well,” said he, and he took the pretty oval face in his two 
hands, 44 and what is there to be frightened at? Why should 
your pretty eyes look so troubled all about nothing?” 

44 And you said you would be patient — you said you would be 
patient for my sake,” she said, reproachfully. 

44 And I was,” he answered. 44 1 was indeed. Patient? Yes, 
as long as might be. Well, I’ll tell you the truth, Ailie. I did 
what I could at the beginning. I tried to be as friendly as ever 
I could speak, though I would not have taken what he said to me 


14 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


from any other man, for I kept thinking of you, Ailie, and of your 
life at the farm ; and, says I to myself, hard words don’t break 
bones, and it’s all for Ailie’s sake ! Then there came something 
that I could not stand.” 

He paused, seemingly reluctant to go on. 

“ What was it, Alec ? ” 

He regarded her in silence for a second or so, pretending to scan 
her face curiously. 

“ But if I put such things into your head, my darling, maybe 
you’d think them true ! ” 

“ What things? ” 

“ Supposing you were to hear it said that it was not you that 
I wanted, but your money, your share of the farm and the house ? ” 

He affected to retreat from her a little bit ; and, in fact, with- 
drew his hands from her shoulders. 

“ And if you told me so yourself I would not believe you,” said 
she, simply. 

“ But are you sure now, Ailie ? Maybe it’s true. If you were 
to be told that I w^as an idle wastrel and vagabond, with a wife in 
every port the Princess Mary sails to ; and that I only wanted to 
get hold of your money to scatter and spend it and to leave you 
when it was done, I dare say — supposing you were to hear that 
said of me ? ” 

There was a proud smile on her face ; she did not answer. 

“Look here, Ailie,” he continued. “Just consider. Maybe 
they’re no so far w T rong. Here am I w 7 itli an offer from the owners 
of the Princess Mary that they’ll make me skipper as soon as I can 
raise enough money to buy a fifth share. It’s a terrible tempta- 
tion for a man. And then there’s a young lass at Fasslie that 
ought to be well off if she had all that belongs to her ; and I come 
courting that young lass and telling her she’s the prettiest lass in 
the north of Scotland — only that’s no lie, for her looking-glass can 
tell her as much any day in the week — and pretending that it’s her 
I’m after, when it’s the captain’s cabin in the Princess Mary I’m 
after ” 

“ And you would have the money to-morrow morning, Alec, if I 
had it to give you,” said she — which was a quite illogical climax to 
these speculations of his. 

“But wait a minute, Ailie,” he said, “for this you’ll never 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


15 


guess. I go to see the uncle of the young lass, to make peace 
with him and win him over ; but he’ll no hear of anything of the 
kind, and what is all the quarrel about? Why, it’s about the 
young lass’s property, and her share in this and that, and what the 
lawyers in Inverness would have to say. Money, money, money is 
the whole cry. Very well, and yet you say you would not believe 
that of me ! ” 

“And maybe it’s not the first time I have heard such things 
hinted,” said she with a smile ; and, indeed, if he remained at a 
little distance and affected to scrutinize her, the look that she 
bestowed on him in return had not much of doubt or distrust in 
it. “ Oh, yes ; and many’s the time I have been glad to think 
that something w 7 ould be coming to me if my uncle would only 
make up the accounts. For, if we were to marry Alec ” 

‘ ‘ If we were to marry ? ” he cried, and he came nearer her again 
and took hold of her by the two shoulders. 

“Well, when we marry?” she said, with dow’ncast eyes, “it 
will be something to start the house with, wherever we choose to 
live. Oh, yes, and the share in the ship, too, if it is possible. Do 
you think you would be five minutes without that if I had the 
money in my hand ? Would it not be for my good as well as for 
yours, my dear ? ” 

“Yes, yes,” said he, “for there’s the captain’s cabin, Ailie, and 
you could come a voyage with me now and again, and I would in- 
troduce you to my other wives in the different places.” 

“ I am not afraid of that,” she said. 

“Well, now, Ailie,” said he, speaking more seriously, “when 
that was cast in my teeth — that it was your money I was after — I 
could not stand that. To be called a thief, too ; aye, and who is 
the thief, says I ? Where is the money you have kept back from 
Alison all these years ? What kind of a story will the lawyers 
have to make out ? For it was a stifhsh quarrel, Ailie, darling, 
and that’s a fact, and it’s all over between him and me for certain, 
and we’ve got to make the best of matters as they stand. It’s 
never again shall I be within that house, that’s fixed. No, it’s you 
that have to come to me now ; I will never be inside that house 
again.” 

“ Alec, Alec ! ” she said in a voice of deep entreaty. “ Surely 
it is not so bad as that ! I asked you to be patient ” 


16 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


“ Patient, lassie ! ” he exclaimed. “ I tell you I was as patient 
as man ever was — bless me, I had to warn him back or he would 
have struck me with his list. The man’s mad, I’m thinking ; or 
else it’s this — that he is keeping back even more than we suspect, 
and that the very mention of lawyers is enough to drive him out 
of his wits. Well, wliat’s done is done ; what we have to do is the 
next thing. You see, lass, I have no right to interfere in your 
affairs at all.” 

“ And why not, Alec?” said she. “And if not you, who else 
then ? It’s not my uncle I would look to. I think he would be 
glad if I were dead and out of the way.” 

“ No doubt ; that’s the very thing that would suit him ; but we 
cannot just oblige him so far as that, lass,” Jameson said. “ Out 
of the way, maybe ; yes, we may take ye out of the way, or out of 
his way, rather ; but if ye were to be ruled by me — or if it was my 
business to interfere — he would soon find out that ye were not 
dead at all, but very much alive.” 

“ What would you have me do, Alec ? I have none to look to 
but you. What is it you want me to do ? ” said she, with absolute 
trust in her eyes. 

“ Leave Fasslie,” said he at once, “ and come and live with my 
mother at Nairn for a few weeks. Then we will get married ; and 
then I will have the right to interfere in your affairs — and who else ?” 

She sighed a little. 

“It’s a pity,” she said, at length. “ I thought some friendly 
arrangement might be made. Why should my uncle be set against 
it? He will have plenty, even after I go.” 

“ Perhaps there is a little settling up of accounts that might be 
inconvenient,” the young man suggested, dryly ; but instantly he 
added in a tone of vexation, “ but how is it that money and money 
and money seems to fill the whole of this night ? No, no, I will 
not interfere. Somebody else must guide ye, lass. Take advice 
now ; go to some shrewd- witted person, and just tell the truth. 
Say you have a sweetheart, and you are not sure of him ” 

“ Alec ! ” she said, and forthwith the pretty, appealing blue eyes 
began to fill with tears. 

“ But it’s the way of the world you foolish creature? ” he said 
with pretended anger. “ How do you know that your uncle is not 
4ght?” 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


17 


“ It is no use your speaking like that — to me,” she said proudly. 
“ No, and it is not fair, Alec. And it is not so much time we have 
together that you should throw it away in speaking nonsense.” 

“ Well, then, will you leave Fasslie ? ” 

For answer she clutched his hand, in affright. Her feminine ' 
watchfulness had caught sight of something that he had not no- 
ticed at all — the figure of a man along there on the w 7 hite moonlit 
road. 

“ It’s my uncle,” she said, and instinctively she caught her lover 
by the arm and drew him further into the dusk of the trees. 

But they could still easily make out the dark figure coming 
along the white road ; nay, more ; they could observe his every 
movement. And presently it was apparent that he was searching 
eveiy nook and cranny along the shore, and they guessed readily 
enough that he had come out in quest of his niece, having missed 
her in the house. Jameson and his sweetheart stood perfectly 
still, behind the screen of young larches and spruce. As for the 
young man, he was quite aware that the farmer would be in a vio- 
lent temper, but he did not heed that much. He merely thought 
that it would be an excellent joke if Alison’s uncle were to go by 
their hiding-place, so that the girl might get home before him. 
And if he did find her, what more could he do than scold ? — and 
he, Jameson, would take care that the words were not too uncivil. 

But the next moment a quick pang of dismay — or of anger, or 
of both together — shot through his heart. The old man carried a 
horsewhip ! A horsewhip — and for whom ? Would he dare to 
raise it against her — even by way of threat — as he drove her home ? 
All the young man’s blood was on fire. A horsewhip — to his Alison ! 

“ Here, lass, come along; I want to see what this means?” 

He took her hand and led her out into the road. When the old 
farmer came along they were standing right before him. 

“ And it’s there ye are, ye limmer, ye hussy — -disgracing an 
honest man’s house ! ” he said, in tones of suppressed rage — but 
he did not come any nearer, for Jameson iiad stepped forward. 
“ Home wi’ ye — home wi’ ye — ye shameless hussy.” 

The two men were now face to face. 

“ Another word like that to the lass,” the younger man said, 
u and by the Lord I’ll heave you on to the rocks there ! ” ' 

A timid hand was put on his arm ; he shook it off. 

2 


18 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


“ Leave me alone, lass ; we’re going to settle this thing now 
and here.” 

44 Settle it?” the old fanner said— and the horsewhip which he 
held in his hand shook and trembled with the violence of his pas- 
sion. 44 And who are yon, sir, that darn* to come between me and 
her ? I tell you I will have the mastery of her so long as she bides 
in my house — I will not have the very name of the place disgraced 
by her wandering about at night wi’ a vagabond. Out of the way 
now — and you, you lirnmer, home wi’ ye, ere the very servants 
come out to mock ye.” 

And perhaps he would have gone forward to seize her by the 
arm and drag her home, but that the young sailor who stood before 
him did not show the slightest intention of stepping aside. On the 
contrary, he was very much in the way, and remained so ; and 
there was a kind of sarcasm in his look. 

44 Yes, it’s a fine home for her to go to,” said he (for he was not 
much of a hand at scolding), 4 4 and it’s a fine guardian you’ve been 
to her, just as if she had been your own bairn. Oh, yes ; saving 
up for her and scraping everything together for her, it was just 
out of kindness, I suppose, that she has scarcely ever had a six- 
pence to spend on herself. Yes, and selling the pony that her 
father bought for her ; that was to add up, too, I suppose ” 

44 Alec I Alec I ” the girl said, trying to interpose. 44 And you, 
uncle, why should there be a quarrel ? ” 

44 Will ye go home — will ye go home, I tell ye ? ” the old man 
roared. 

44 No, she will not go home until it suits her own convenience,” 
Jameson said ; and he seemed to grow more and more cool and 
quiet in his demeanor, the greater the rage of his antagonist be- 
came. 44 It’s a nice home you’ve made it for her since her father 
died, and it’s a pleasant life the lass has had to lead. Well, that’s 
about over now. If it’s neurs to you, you’re welcome — Alison is 
going to leave Fasslie.” 

44 Leave Fasslie ! ” the other gasped. It seemed, then, there 
was a conspiracy between these two ? They had laid their heads 
together to dare him— to try to cheat him out of that hoard that 
he had been so diligently amassing, ever since the management of 
the farm* fell into his hands ? 

44 Uncle, I do not wish to leave Fasslie,” Alison pleaded and — 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


19 


she had been crying a little over this wrangle that seemed so 
hopeless, and that seemed to bode so much trouble for the future. 

“No, nor will ye leave Fasslie with my will, ye graceless hus- 
sy ! ” he cried. “ Will ye leave the place ye were bom in — and 

for what ? To face the world with an idle vagabond ” 

“ Vagabond he is not ! ” she exclaimed, firing up at the word. 
‘ £ And you will do no good with me, uncle, by speaking ill of 
him ■” 

“ Ailie, lass, what does it matter?” her lover interposed; but 
she was not to be interrupted ; she would have her say out. 

“ And I did not wish to leave Fasslie ; but what else is there 

now ? What can I do but that ? There will be no peace ■” 

“ What else is there ? ” he bellowed, for he was like a madman in 
his impotent fury — Jameson, standing there facing him and dar- 
ing him to advance a step. “ What else? There’s a whip to curl 
round your shoulders, ye impudent limmer. ” 

“ Ay,” said Jameson, quickly, “is that it, then ? ” 

Before the farmer could tell what had happened the horsewhip 
was snatched from his hand, the stick of it snapped in two, and 
both pieces whirled away through the air — and falling, indeed, 
on the rocks below them. 

“And it’s the same for you, if you like, my man,” the young 
sailor said, with his eyes afire. “Would you like to follow? A 
horsewhip — to a young lass? To speak of such a thing, you 
white-headed old thief and coward — by the Lord, I wonder I can 
let you stand there.” 

For a moment it seemed as if the old man was about to rush on 
his antagonist (w 7 ho was sorely hampered, too, by Alison clinging 
to him and trying to pull him away), but he suddenly changed his 
mind ; he turned and strode off— crunching the stones in the road 
in the blind fury of his wrath ; and plainly enough they could 
hear him say : “ I’ll have the dogs down — I’ll have the dogs down, 
and chase ye from the country-side, ye scoundrel vagabond ! ” 

And then the young sailor turned to his sweetheart, who was all 
trembling and sobbing and frightened, and he would wipe the 
tears away from her pretty face, and he called her all kinds of soft, 
pet names, and bade her be of courage. 

u For you see how matters stand now, Ailie, my dear,” said he, 
and he smoothed her hair back from her forehead, as if he would 


20 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


have nothing come between him and the open clear depths of her 
eyes, 44 and it’s no use hoping that a madman will become a rea- 
sonable man. Yonr life at the farm will be a misery as long as 
you bide there, and I am not afraid to ask you to come away ; 
anything will be better than that, and when you are living with 
my mother, then there will be time and peace and comfort for you 
to consider what you will do next. No, I am not afraid to ask you 
to do as much as that, for that will be for your good, I know.” 

44 But I will do anything you tell me, Alec,” said she, and her 
absolute confidence in him was apparent as much in her manner 
as in her words, 44 for I have no one in the world to guide me but 
you.” 

44 And your own common sense, Ailie. And you must not trust 
me any further than what a stranger would say w r as right.” 

“But I do trust you; and how can you help that?” said she, 
with a smile struggling through her tears. 

4 4 Then I’ll have to guard you against yourself ; and very easy 
it will be, for when you’re living in Nairn we’ll just get the lawyer 
folk to tie up whatever money you may have — I mean whatever 

money they may be able to get from your uncle ” 

* 4 4 But they cannot tie it up if I want to give it to you,” said she. 
44 And, oh, Alec, wouldn’t it be fine if we could buy the fifth share 
in the ship and you to be made captain ” 

44 Yes, and what would be just as fine would be this, if we were 
to rent a small cottage just outside Nairn, or Elgin, or Inverness, 
and you to have a little garden to amuse yourself wi’ when I am 
away, and a little servant lass to help you. You see, Ailie, every- 
thing’s to be little — the cottage, the garden, the servant lass. It’s 
like the old song, you know, 4 When a little farm we keep — ’ I 
say, everything is to be little except one thing, and that is the love 
in your heart, Ailie.” 

44 But you cannot expect me to keep that little,” said she, 
regarding him with her fond, trusting' eyes. “Anything else, 
except that.” 

44 No, no ; you will keep that as big as you can, my dear, as long 
as it is mine,” said he. 

Then he bethought him of the farmer’s parting threat. 

44 Well, I must be off, Ailie, for I don’t want to be worried by a 
lot of yelping collies.” 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


21 


“ Oh, do you think the dogs would harm any one that is with 
me ? ” she said, confidently. 

“Well, it’s no use having anymore quarrelling; there’s been 
enough of that for awhile ; and as soon as I get back I will go 
through to Nairn, and my mother will arrange for your coming, 
and the sooner the better. The Princess Mary will not be ready 
for a week yet, and you could write and say where I am to meet 
you ” 

“ But if my uncle will not let me leave the farm ? ” 

“ How is he to hinder you ? ” 

“ He might lock me up in a room,” said Alison. 

And loudly he laughed. 

“ I’m thinking that would not last long, Ailie, my dear ! I’m 
thinking I would soon have some of the lads with me, and we’d 
get you out if we stripped the slates off the roof. No, no ; it’s 
when you want to leave the farm, you’ll leave it — I will take care 
of that ; and your room will be ready for you in Nairn— as neat 
and clean and smart as a new pin.” 

And then at last he had to go, and he had comforted her amaz- 
ingly, and she was smiling through her tears ; and when the final 
good-bye was said, and the last hand-shake and kiss given and 
taken, and the last, long, lingering look withdrawn, she turned 
and took her way toward the solitary farm house, through the loud- 
reverberating, clear, moonlight night. 


CHAPTER III. 

A CONSPIKACY, 

Inveeness is not much of seaport, and the occasional rows of 
small houses in the neighborhood of the almost disused quays are 
visited by but few passers-by, especially in the daytime. And yet 
old Robert Graham, as he slowly walked along one of those soli- 
tary thoroughfares — pretending to saunter idly and aimlessly, 
indeed, as if he had only wandered hither by chance — had a keenly 
apprehensive look in his deep-set eyes ; and he was sharply and 
covertly watching the movements of every human being within 
sight. As a matter of fact there was only one person who could 
possibly be a spy on him ; and that was a man who, slung over 


22 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


the side of a big schooner lying high and dry on the mud, was 
working on the hull while his back was turned on the street, and, 
moreover, he was engaged with his own affairs, hoarsely singing 
the while some dolorous sailor song. 

Twice and three times did the old farmer slowly walk up and down 
this empty street ; though well he knew the house he was seeking, 
for it had been shown him the evening before, toward dusk, when 
the dim light in the window seemed to him something mysterious 
and awful, and the very silence around unholy. And now, when 
he at length mustered up courage to approach the door that his 
eye had been stealthily fixed on for some time back, there was a 
curious sensation of dread about his heart and the hand that he 
timidly raised to the rude iron knocker was shaking a little, though 
he did not notice that. He hesitated but for a second ; he rapped, 
but not loudly ; the next moment the door was opened. 

A tall, thin, gray-haired, quiet and respectable-looking woman 
stood before him, regarding him with mild and melancholy eyes. 
She carried in her hand a piece of sewing ; apparently she had 
been at work. 

“ Yes, sir? ” she said, inquiringly ; and mild and melancholy as 
those eyes appeared, they seemed to have scrutinized him from 
head to foot in the meanwhile. 

Mr. Graham was rather taken aback. Could this quiet-looking 
creature be one of the two wise women — the spey wives — that fore- 
told the fortunes of the young lasses about and sold charms to 
sailors and were suspected of even darker dealings ? He had ex- 
pected to find a couple of venomous old hags, crouching in some 
dark chimney corner, to whom he could at once have revealed his 
designs, beseeching their aid to rid him of his enemy. However, 
he was a little bewildered and a little frightened ; and at length 
he managed to say : 

“ Nancy Lissom ?” 

“That’s my sister’s name,” was the calm answer, and the 
scrutiny of those mild but watchful eyes was continued. 

“ I want to see her,” he said. 

“The poor old woman’s no so well the now,” she said. “I 
would rather not disturb her.” 

“ But I maun see her — it’s business — it’s important,” the farmer 
said, rather breathlessly. 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


23 


“ I dinna see who that can be,” the other answered him. “ It’s 
me that minds the house, and the rent’s paid and the taxes, and 
the water and everything, and we dinna owe a penny to any living 
though it’s a hard enough struggle for two old folk like her and 
me.” 

“ Bless me, woman, I ken a’ about you and your sister,” said he 
impatiently, for he did not wish to be seen talking at the door. 
“ Let me inside the house, and I’ll tell you what I want.” 

“ Ye’re welcome to come in, sir,” she said, and she made way for 
him to pass, and shut the door after him, “ but if a’ the magis- 
trates in Inverness were to come into this house, they would find 
nothing wrong — only two old wives, making but a scant living wi’ 
their needle — ay, and one o’ them getting so blind now that she 
can scarce add a stitch.” 

“I’m not a magistrate,” said he, almost under his breath ; for 
the little room into which he was now ushered seemed strangely 
quiet. And, indeed, there ^vas no suggestion of necromancy about 
this commonplace little apartment. It was just such another as 
one might have expected in that neighborhood, only that it was 
cleanly and tidily kept, however poor and plain the furniture might 
be. There were the usual ornaments on the mantelpiece — big sea- 
shells, two cheap glass vases surmounted each with a frill of green 
paper, and one or tv T o photographs in frames. But what the 
farmer instantly noticed was that on the little table at the window, 
where the family Bible ought to have been, no family Bible w 7 as 
there ; in place of that there was merely a flower-pot with some 
red and yellow paper fiow T ers in it, to attract the gaze of the 
passer-by without. Then he turned to the melancholy-eyed 
woman, who stood calmly waiting for him to speak. 

“I want to be friends wi’ ye, and w 7 i’ your sister,” said he. 
“ I’m not a magistrate at all. I’ve heard o’ ye. I’ve come here to 
ask your help, ay, and I’ll pay well for it. But it was Nancy Lis- 
som I was told to ask for.” 

“ My sister’s in there,” the woman said, nodding her head in the 
direction of a door behind him, and still continuing to regard him 
with suspicion. “ But she’s a poor old woman now, that can 
scarce talk to strangers. And if ye’ve come to do us an ill turn, 
sir, I wish you v r ould go away again. We harm nobody. We just 
want to be let alone.” 


24 


TEE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


“An ill turn, ye foolish woman ! ” lie said angrily ; and then he 
instantly altered his tone. “ No, no, I want to be friends wi’ ye, if 
ye can give me any help. I’ll make it worth your while. Look here.” 

He took out from his breast pocket a small parcel of £1 bank 
notes, dark and dirty, as these usually are in the country districts 
of Scotland — and selecting two of them from the rest, placed them 
open on the table. 

“ There’s a handsel,” said he. 

When the woman saw the two bank notes lying there, her eyes 
contracted like the eyes of a cat about to spring, and instinctively 
she was about to seize them. But then she paused. She looked 
at him. 

“Is it a trap?” 

She went quickly to the window, and, as w^ell as she could, 
glanced up and down the street to see if he had any accomplice 
waiting without. There was no one there. She returned to the 
table and took up the notes and said with a kind of sigh : 

“ I’m sure, sir, ye wouldna seek to harm two poor old women, 
and one o’ them near to her death, as I’m thinking. But nowa- 
days it’s a sin and an outcry if ye take a pack o’ cards and tell a 
lass whether her sweetheart is to be dark or fair. Not that I ken 
anything about that, or that I would do sic a thing ; but come in 
and see my sister, and tell her what your business is. Folk call 
her a wise woman — but what’s that ? It’s just that she has the 
skill and experience o’ a long life, and many a one she has helped, 
though many’s the ill name that both o’ us get in return for it. 
And did I thank ye for this money, sir ? It’s a poor life we lead, 
for she’s nearly blind, and I’m not so quick with the needle as I 
was.” 

She opened a door in the partition dividing the lower floor of 
the house, and preceded him into the back room. It was about 
the same size as the one in front, but much more poorly furnished, 
and it was darker also. There was a small fire burning in the 
grate, though it was far from being cold weather without, and in 
an easy chair by the side of the fire sat a little old woman — older 
than her sister and whiter of hair — who was wrapped up in a thick 
shawl, and wore on her head an old-fashioned “ mutch.” 

She looked startled and even frightened when she saw the 
Stranger, and quickly turned to her sister. 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 25 

/ 

“ It’s a’ right, Nancy,” the taller woman said. “ The gentleman 
has gi’en me a good handsel, and I’ll leave him to tell ye his busi- 
ness himsel’.” 

So saying she withdrew ; and then the interview on which the 
old farmer had staked all his vengeful hopes began. And at first 
it proceeded slowly enough ; for the little old woman, who seemed 
to have remarkably sharp eyes, considering that her sister had 
said she was nearly blind, would admit nothing ; pretended that 
she only gave good advice ; then admitted that she practised a 
little harmless forecasting by means of cards, and so forth. At 
times, the farmer grew angry ; then, fearing to offend her, would 
become quite humble again ; and finally he had recourse to fur- 
ther money persuasions. The fact was he was desperate. If they 
could not help, who could ? Would he have to part with his 
niece, and her share of the profits of the farm that he had held 
back, and her share of the stock as it stood, and all because an 
insolent young puppy had chosen to interfere ? And this was the 
only way of meeting him ; and time pressed ; and why would this 
old woman — that he had been assured had dark and mysterious 
relations with the unseen powers — prevaricate, and make false 
assurances, and refuse to aid him ? 

But this further bribe, though the parting with these two pounds 
was like rending his heart in twain, prevailed ; and the little old 
woman rose from the chair, and hobbled across the apartment, 
and for a little while was busy in a little cupboard there. When 
she came back she had something or other wrapped up in her 
apron. 

“ Ay, ay,” said she, in her quavering voice, as she sank into the 
easy chair again, and pretended to keep her eyes fixed absently 
on the fire, “if the police or the fiscal was coming, he would be 
here ere now ; and its only when one is sure that one can speak 
out ; and it’s no often nowadays, when there’s so few that believes 
— there’s so few that believes. Well, w T ell, poor things, maybe 
it’s better they sliouldna ken what’s going to happen. What use 
is it to them to ken beforehand that the head of the house will 
never come back frae sea, or that the bairn will be ta’en from 
them, or that the money they hope for will never be theirs ? And 
if they dinna believe that harm can be fended off — well, well, they 
must suffer, poor things. It wasna so once. I mind the days 


26 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


wlien folk were glad to take warning — ay, and to pay for the warn- 
ing— and to take heed, and guard themselves against the ill that 
was coming. But there’s few that believe nowadays, and a poor 
old wife has amaist lost the secret o’t, though it’s them that’s near- 
est the grave that can see best.” 

He let her mumble on, apparently to herself ; for partly he was 
hoping that she would of herself come to the mysterious art of 
which he was in quest, but jDartly also because he was a little bit 
overawed. There was something gruesome in being in solitary 
converse with a reputed witch ; she did not seem to heed him 
now ; she kept her eyes on the smouldering fire as if she saw 
things there — shipwrecks, funerals, children crying, women sitting 
and moaning alone. And if the hope in his heart burnt fiercer, 
it also made him afraid. He was coming close to these awful and 
unknown influences, and how might they not affect himself ? He 
had been most propitiatory to this old woman and her sister ; but, 
after all, they were only instruments. And when once his pur- 
pose was known, would the vague powers that compassed evil and 
harm be on his side, and work with him and for him, or might 
they not turn against him and wither him with their malignant 
craft ? 

And now that she was satisfied he did not mean to betray her 
— that he was in reality seeking supernatural aid, and willing to 
pay for the same — she seemed bent on convincing him that he had 
not come hither in vain. 

“But there’s no many now that care to be warned,” she contin- 
ued, still vacantly staring into the fire. “ It was different in former 
days. Maybe you’ve heard o’ Willox the Warlock ?” 

“ I remember the name, but I never saw him,” the farmer said, 
and the very sound of his own voice made him start, so intently 
had he been occupied with his fancies and his fears. 

“ Poor man, he died in ’33. I mind him well. Macgregor was 
his real name. And do ye ken what gave him power over the 
spirits — ay, so that he could raise a storm on a loch and drown 
a boat ere ever warning could reach them? It was what they 
call a talisman, that had been handed down to him ; and this 
was the way of it. In former days there was a Water Kelpie in 
Loch Ness, and he would linger on the road by the side of the 
loch, in the shape of a fine horse all saddled and bridled, and 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


27 


when some tired traveller w T ould fain come along and get a ride 
for a mile or two, no sooner was lie in the saddle than down into 
the loch ran the Kelpie and drowned him. But one o’ the Mac- 
gregors heard o’ the Kelpie and attacked him, and slashed at the 
head o’ the horse with his claymore, and cut away the end o’ the 
bridle and a piece o’ the bit ; and it was this that was handed 
down to Willox the Warlock, as they called him, and many a 
strange thing he did wi’ it, as the folk will tell ye till this day. 
Well, sir, ye liae been kind to two poor auld women, and I’m sure 
ye’re no in league with the police, and I’m just going to show 7 ye 
that very talisman — that was well known in this country-side w 7 hen 
I was a young lass.” 

She opened her apron and took up a piece of yellow metal, and 
held it out for him to look at. But he would not touch it. He 
did not know what subtle power it might yet possess, and perhaps 
for evil to the unwary. 

“ And what can ye do with that, then? ” he said, almost in a whis- 
per, and he had a sudden vision of Alec Jameson and of a storm just 
outside Nairn harbor, and of a sinking ship, and then a wide, empty 
sea, with darkness and night and silence coming dow 7 n on it. 

“ It’s no much that I can do wi’ that,” she said, absently. “ The 
day has gone by. The folks dinna believe in Water Kelpies 
now ” 

“ Ay, but if there was one ready to believe ? ” said he eagerly. 
“ What then, what then, good- wife ? ” 

She had taken from her lap another object — an oblong piece of 
crystal, pierced with several holes. 

“Here,” she said, “ is the other talisman that Willox the War- 
lock used, and maybe there’s more to be done wi’ that, if ye would 
learn what’s going to happen. Ay, there’s many a strange thing 
has been seen through that glass — many a thing that has come 
true when least it was expected, for days are no more than hours, 
and years no more than days, when ye look through it. Would ye 
like to try?” 

Well, this was not what he came for ; but he was fearful to 
offend her, and how could he tell but that at any moment she 
might suggest the very means that he desired ? So he assented, 
and in a kind of half mystified way he saw her go and fetch a bowl 
of water, which she placed in front of the fire. 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


“ Kneel down,” said she, “ and put the glass on the top of the 
water, and tell me if you see anything on the bottom of the 
bowl.” 

He w T as afraid to take hold of the piece of crystal, but on the 
other hand he did not know what danger he might incur by refus- 
ing, so he did as he was bid. Of course when the crystal was in- 
terposed between the glow of the fire and the bowl of water there 
were shadows thrown on the bottom of the vessel, and sharper 
lights where the holes were pierced ; and then again these seemed 
to move, for he did not himself know T that his hand was so trem- 
bling and unsteady. 

'‘If it’s waves,” she said, slowly, and her eyes could now watch 
him unseen, “it’s a voyage.” 

There was no answer. He was puzzling over those mysterious 
shadows, and too perturbed to make a definite guess. 

“ If it’s trees,” she continued 

“ Ay, it’s more like trees, I’m thinking,” he muttered. 

“If it’s trees it’s a kirkyard,” she said. 

He sprang to his feet. 

“A kirkyard ! For whom ? ” he cried, perfectly aghast. 

But the old woman took no notice of this sudden fright. 

“How can I tell that,” said she, in the same calm voice, “until 
I hear what it is ye want to learn ? Indeed, I’ll do my best for ye, 
sir — though there’s nothing sure, there’s nothing sure. But ye’ve 
been a good friend to us this day — I’ll do my best.” 

Here, then, was the opportunity he wanted, and he strove to 
collect himself. He reverently placed the piece of crystal and the 
bowl on the table, for although fortune-telling was not what he 
was after, still these things might work mischief — and then he 
began his story. Truth to say, it was a very transparent fabrication. 
It needed no witch to surmise that he was speaking of himself and 
his own affairs. The story w T as of a farmer dwelling in a certain 
place, who lived soberly and discreetly, trying to do his best by the 
farm, and saving up every penny that- he could save. And why ? 
Because he had a niece, who, in the ordinary course of nature, would 
fall heir to the property. But w r as she content with that ? No. 
The idle hussy must needs take up with a harum-scarum young sailor 
fellow, and now he was for taking her away from the house ; and 
he was going to the lawyer’s to make the farmer hand over all that 


TEE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


29 


was due to her — though that had all been expended in the bring- 
ing of her up — and also the value of her share in the stock, no 
doubt. And not only that, but this impudent rascal of a sailor 
had challenged the farmer to fight, and had miscalled him, and 
would have lashed him with a horsewhip but that the whip broke 
in his hands. And could she wonder, he asked eagerly, if he 
wanted to baffle the intentions of this robber and plunderer ; aye, 
and take vengeance on him for his threats and scorn ? And was 
there no way of doing that ? The farmer would pay, he said. 
Oh, yes, he would pay when the work was done. Hardly as he 
had earned every penny of his savings, he would do much to save 
his niece from becoming the slave of such a scoundrel. 

“ That, now,” he said, fixing his eyes on the piece of yellow metal 
that lay in her hand, “ could not that work him a mischief ? ” 

“ I’m no sure about that,” she answered. “ There’s other ways 
— ay, there’s other ways o’ working a harm, if it was safe to 
do it. But I maun have the name o’ the farmer and o’ the young 
sailor lad,” she added. 

“ Surely that’s no needfu’,” he said, rather drawing back. 

“ Indeed but it is,” she said, doggedly. 

He was loth to compromise himself so far, but, on the other 
hand, being apparently so near the accomplishment of his wishes, 
and having risked so much already, he could not think of giving 

up. 

“ Graham,” he said, with evident timidity, “that is the farmer’s 
name ; and the sailor’s name, Jameson.” 

At the mention of the latter’s name there was a curious little 
twitch of the old woman’s eyes, which he did not notice, and she 
suddenly said to him : 

“ But his other name — I mean the sailor lad’s.” 

“Oh, that’s Alec !” he said; he had less scruple about giving 
her that information. 

“ And it’s him that wants the young lass with the money? ” she 
said, with a quick glance at him. 

Then she resumed her absent staring into the fire again. He 
remained regarding her in silence. He guessed that she was de- 
vising sure and certain means for the destruction of his enemy and 
would not interfere. 

“ It’s dangerous work,” she said, at length. 


30 


TIIE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


“Ay, but when it’s done it mil be well paid for,” said he, 
eagerly. “ Can ye do it — can ye do it, good wife ? Can ye bring 
something upon him ? or can ye whisper them that can — some- 
thing quick and sudden, now, ere he gets time to go to the law- 
yer's ? I tell ye, the lass is talking o' leaving the farm at once, 
and together they’ll be at the lawyer’s ; haste ye to think now r . 
Can ye make something befall him — something sharp and sudden, 
that will end him for ever ? It was a kirkyaird I saw in the bowl 
—I’m sure o’t — trees and bushes it was that I saw — a kirkyaird it 
was — and was that for him, good wife ? ” 

She seemed to pay but little heed to his malignant vehemence. 
For awhile she sat perfectly silent and apparently absorbed, and 
than she said slowly : 

‘ ‘ There’s the old and the sure way, if ye are daring enough to 
do it.” 

“ What is’t — what is’t ? ” he said, quickly. 

She looked up again. 

“Are ye so hard set against the lad? ” 

“ Wife, wife, ye dinna understand what he threatens to me and 
mine ! ” he exclaimed, but in a low voice. “ Tell me what’s to be 
done, and leave the rest to me. And quick, quick it maun be, ere 
the scoundrel gets to the lawyer’s.” 

Inadvertently he had confessed that he himself was the farmer 
of his imaginary story, but she knew that already. 

“It’s the old and the sure w’ay,” she repeated, in the same slow 
fashion. “ Ye take a wax image, and ye make ready a big fire, 
and ye put the image before the fire, and when it begins to melt, 
sickness strikes at his heart. Ay, and he pines and he pines, and 
no one can tell what is the matter with him ; and on the second 
day ye put the image to the fire again, and ye begin to stick 
needles into it, and with every needle ye say, 

* Fire burn, fire stew, 

Another knife I stick in you , 7 

until the image is finished ; ay, and when that’s finished, the 
man’s finished, and it’s the kirkyaird then for him, and a cold 
stone at his head.” 

“ And the wax image— where could one get that, good wife?” 
said he, almost in a whisper. 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


81 


She regarded him. 

“ Come here to-night at nine o’clock to the minute, and it will 
be ready for ye,” she answered. “ And mind ye, let no one see 
your coming in or your going out ; for it’s compassing a man’s 
life, and what does that mean, if it’s found out, but the gallows ? ” 
He started, for there almost seemed a menace in her tone ; but 
surely she was as much implicated as he himself was. However, 
he promised to be there punctually at nine that evening, in 
the utmost secrecy ; and so he got out of the house and into 
the quiet little thoroughfare. As he made his way back to the 
busier part of the town, the white daylight around seemed to have 
a bewildering effect on his eyes, and his heart was darkened with 
a nameless dread ; and his brain was busy trying to recall the 
ghastly incantation he was to use when he put the waxen image of 
his enemy before the sharp flames. 


CHAPTER IY. 

THE WORKING OF THE CHARM. 

At nine o’clock that night the moon was not yet over the cliim- 
ney-tops ; and this little thoroughfare that he sought with stealthy 
step and anxious look was dark and solitary enough. And well 
he wished himself out of Inverness, and back home ; at Fasslie he 
could take safe and leisurely precautions to avoid observation ; 
here he knew not what silent foot might be following him, what 
unseen eye might be upon him ; nor yet what fell enchantment 
might not be hovering around this very house that he was about 
to visit. He was a little before the appointed time ; he walked 
round by the quay and back again ; and ever his attention was 
fixed on that particular window, where a dull red light shone. 
What was it that made that light look baleful and sinister ? lie 
wished this business was over, and himself back at Fasslie Farm. 

So far as he could perceive, he was quite unobserved as he 
finally went up to the house, tapped lightly and was admitted. 
Not a word was spoken by the taller of the two women, who re: 
ceived him as on the previous occasion ; she merely opened the 
door of the back room, and shut it behind him when he had 


32 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


entered. And the next moment his startled glance fell upon some* 
thing that was lying* there upon the table — something that made 
him shiver, though he had never seen the like before ; for the 
waxen image that lay among some cotton fitted into a small box, 
however rudely it may have been fashioned, seemed to him like a 
corpse, and to have the cold, clammy, clayey look of a corpse. 
He turned to the old woman, dreading to find her eyes fixed on 
him and reading alike his desires and fears ; but her face was 
away from him ; she was staring blankly into the fire. 

“ Ay, and .what now, good- wife ? ” said he, pretending not to 
have seen that ghastly object lying there. 

“ It’s ready for ye,’’ said she, and she turned and glanced at the 
table. “ There is that that will make a sick man of him, and syne 
a dead man. Ay, that’s the sure way, surer than the talisman that 
"Willox and Warlock cut frae the Kelpie's mouth.” 

“And when will it begin to work, good-wife?” said he anx- 
iously. ‘ ‘ Maybe he’s in Inverness at this minute ; maybe he’ll ncr- 
wait for the young lass to come from the farm ; maybe he’ll go to 
the lawyer’s and make mischief ere he can be stopped. When will 
it begin to work, tell me ; when will he fall ill ? ” 

“ As soon as ever that wax is put to the fire and begins to melt,” 
said she, “then the sickness will strike into him. It’s a dreadfu’ 
thing to think of — a young man in the prime and health o’ life ” 

“ Ay, but such a rascal as ye ne’er heard o’,” he said, eagerly, for 
he did not wish her to repent of her connivance ; perhaps she 
might recall the charm at the last moment. ‘ ‘ I tell ye, ye do well 
to work harm on such a worthless, mischievous fellow — ay, a ras- 
cal that would rob an old man, and steal away a lass from her 
proper home, and seek to get hold o’ her money to spend it on 
riotous living. Na, na, dinna fash your head about that, good- wife ; 
he deserves all he’ll get and mail*. It’s a good job ye’ve done.” 

And then he turned to the table and regarded the rudely-shaped 
little effigy. 

‘ ‘ And, maun I keep it at the fire melting and melting to the 
end ? ” said he, for now that the means were within his reach, he 
seemed impatient to begin. 

“No, no,” she answered him. “Three days must go by; and 
if at the end o’ the third day it’s no a’ melted away, then into the 
fire wi’ it — poor young fellow, that will be his death hour.” 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS . 


33 


“But when I take away the wax frae the fire, will the illness 
stop ? ” he asked. 

“No, no; when ye take the wax frae the fire it will harden; 
but when once a man is struck with a pining, that holds him — ay, 
until it’s time for the tramp o’ the coffin men to be heard on the 
stair.” 

‘ 4 And no matter where he is, will this reach him ? ” he said. 

4 4 Ay, whether he is on sea or land, far or near, in a rich man’s 
house or in a poor, when the wax is put to the fire, then the pin- 
ing and wasting begins, and every time ye put a needle into the 
wax that is a pain going through his heart. Bethink ye, sir, what 
ye are doing and spare him if ye can. My sister and me are poor 
folk, and it’s ill to get a living in such hard times as these ; and 
I’m sure we would rather keep to the sewing if my eyes were no 
so bad. It’s no my own will that I would meddle wi’ such things 
as that. I wouldna harm a living soul.” 

He seemed to pay no heed to these pleadings, except in so far 
as they tended to confirm his belief in the deadly power of this 
instrument she had made for him ; and now T — but with rather 
uncertain fingers — he had taken the box in his hand. 

44 But what’s this, good wife?” he said, suddenly; 44 What 
color is this box ? Green, surely ? Ay, that will never do at a’. 
Ye’ll have to get me another box. There’ll be no good luck to 
me or mine if I take aught o’ that color into the house. Bless 
me, it’s a wonder I noticed it in candle-light.” 

44 There’s not another box o’ the kind, but or ben,” said she. 

44 Well, well,” said he, 44 I’ll take it wi’ me as it is, and get 
another ere I set out for home in the morning,” and with that 
he put the lid on and tied a bit of string round it, and w T as ready 
to go. 

44 But ye’re no leaving us that way,” said she, with a kind of 
feeble, whining remonstrance, 44 after a’ our trouble. We’re poor, 
poor folk, my sister and me ; and what with the police and the 
fiscal and the neighbors spying on us, and glad to say an ill word 
when they can, it’s a hard struggle to live. And this practising 
on a man’s life, that we risk the gallows by, is that not to be paid 
for?” 


44 But I’ve given ye four pounds, woman ! ” he said, angrily. 
And then he quickly bethought him that this was not the tone 
3 


34 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 

in which to address one who might turn these very powers against 
himself. 

“But dinna let’s quarrel,” said lie. “No, no; see here’s 
another ; that’s five and a good day’s wage. But it’s not five, 
but twice five ye’ll have from me when this work’s done. Ten 
pounds will I give ye on that day ; just mind that now, and ye’ll 
be looking forrit to the end as eager as I am mysel’. And so 
goodnight to ye, good- wife ; and just keep a quiet tongue in your 
head about this affair until I see you again.” 

And so he got him out of the house, and stole quietly away 
back to the inn where he w T as lodging. There he succeeded in 
getting a box something of the same size as the green one ; and 
when he had transferred to it the deadly instrument which w T as 
to work woe on his enemy, he felt more at ease. And late into 
the night he sat up in his solitary little room, Wondering at what 
hour of the following evening he w T ould begin to melt the wax 
figure, and wondering where Alec Jameson would be when first 
he should find himself smitten with that strange sickness. Com- 
punction, remorse, hesitation, he had none. He was all too anxious 
to strike. Not only revenge for the past, but regard for his own 
safety in the future, goaded him on. And liow T could any one 
call it murder, when he but melted a doll at a fire, as any child 
might do ? If there w r ere maleficent beings who would make that 
the occasion for working a man’s bane, he knew them not. But 
if these invisible powers befriended him, as they had befriended 
him in times past, surely he would be grateful to them, though 
he might never know how to call them by their name. The old 
woman, too, he would establish friendly relations with her ; it 
was better to be safe with every one all round. 

He reached home the following afternoon, and he was unusu- 
ally civil to his niece— but in a suspicious, watchful way — when 
that he chanced to meet her about the house. Again, as they sat 
down to supper in the evening, he said, with an appearance of good 
humor : 

“ Well, now if you have any sense, lass, ye’ll change your mind 
about leaving Fasslie.” 

“And, indeed, uncle,” she said, “it’s no wish of mine that I 
should leave Fasslie— at least not the now ; and if I have to go, it 
will be with no great gladness.” 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


35 


“ But wlio can make ye go if ye dinna want to go ? ” he said, 
eagerly. “ Think o’t, lass. Think o’ the changes o’ life, and you 
going orJ} to face them by yoursel’, yes, by yoursel’ ; for what 
better is a sailor’s wife than a left widow woman when lie’s aw T ay 
at sea ? Ay, and the chances o’ storms and shipwrecks, think o’ 
that ; and you living by yoursel’ and waiting and waiting. That’s 
a terrible life for a young lass to lead. Here ye’ve a comfortable 
home, where your father’s name is weel kenned in the coun- 
try-side ; and here’s friends for ye in time o’ trouble ; and yo 
can see that everything that’s done to better the house or the 
building or the farm, that’s a’ being done for what is your ow 7 n — or 
for what will be your own when I am taken. It’s a sad thing to 
see a young lass beguiled and led away from her ow T n folk ; where 
she has everything and no trouble ; and to see her going out to 
face the world by hersel’, among strangers that ken nothing about 
her or hers, and will swindle her, or misca’ her, or cheat her, 
whenever they get the chance. It’s a sad, sad thing to see ; and 
I never thought it would be you, Ailie, lass.” 

He had never spoken like this to her before. Ordinarily he 
was querulous, dissatisfied, complaining in his manner toward her, 
and often-times downright ill-tempered, dictatorial, and brutal. 
And for a second or two this plausible reasoning and this ap- 
parent friendliness of his tone rather bewildered her, but presently 
she said : 

“ It’s too late to think o’ that, uncle. I have given my w T ord to 
Alec Jameson and I am not going to take it back.” 

1 ‘ It’s never too late to mend an error,” said he — and he was 
watching her with some eagerness, as if he expected to see some 
sign of yielding in her face. 

“And as for being a sailor’s wife,” she continued, “I suppose 
every one has some trouble. Besides, it will not be so bad when 
Alec is made captain, and then I can go a voyage with him from 
time to time.” 

“ And who is going to make him captain ? ” he said, scornfully. 

“They would make him that now,” she answered, simply, “if 
only he had money to buy a fifth share in the Princess Mary.” 

Instantly his face changed, and there was a savage gleam from 
under the bushy eyebrows. 

“Ay, ay, there again — it’s money lie’s after, as well I kenned,” 


36 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


he said, between liis teeth. 44 Money to buy a fifth share in the 
Princess Mary ! Well, well, what’s going to be will be ! ” 

Apparently he was trying to conceal his anger. He remained 
silent for some little while, busying himself with his supper. 
Then he said, in quite a conciliatory way : 

4 4 Ailie, lass, do you think they could light a fire for me in the 
safe room ? ” For so he had chosen to designate the room in 
which he had placed the iron chest. 

44 Oh, yes,” said she, 44 it’s many a day since there was a fire in 
that room, but I dare say the chimney will draw well enough.” 

44 As soon as ye’ve finished, then, just bid the lasses light a fire 
there,” said he, 44 ay, and a good blazing fire, for I have papers and 
things to burn.” 

44 Very well, uncle,” she said, and, as she had just then finished 
supper, she went away to do as she was bid. 

It did not occur to him as unnecessarily and wantonly cruel to 
ask a young girl to go and get ready a fire for the slow burning of 
her lover’s effigy ; his thoughts were elsewhere ; he was trying to 
guess where Alec Jameson might be at this moment, now that this 
fell disease was about to strike at his vitals. In a public house, 
making merry ? Or on board the Princess Mary, wondering when 
he was to become captain ? Or, perhaps, deciding as to which of 
the lawyers he would go to on the following day ? Anyhow, for 
him, and his mischief -making, and his insolent designs, there had 
come an end. 

It was Alison herself who came to announce that the fire w’as lit 
and burning well. He went away and got a pair of iron pincers ; 
then he sought out the little chamber and shut himself in, locking 
the door behind him. Outside the world was growing white with 
the moonlight — the sea w’as distinctty visible and the far and dusky 
line of coast under the clear, still heavens ; and so, for some reason 
or another, he went to the window and closed the shutters and 
barred them. Then he lit the solitary candle that v 7 as standing on 
the mantel-shelf ; after a hard struggle he managed to open the 
big iron chest ; he took therefrom the little box he had deposited 
there for safety in the afternoon ; and presently the w 7 ax effigy was 
in the firm grip of the pincers. He w 7 ent to the fire. The flames 
w T ere burning merrily now. And then, after a moment’s hesitation, 
he thrust the wax in front of the hot red glow. 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


37 


All this lie had done as one in a dream. It was not of these 
mechanical appliances lie was thinking ; it was of the effect of this 
incantation, as it would now be happening many a mile away. 
Had the pain begun ? Or was it only a feverish heat he felt as yet 
and a sickness ? And were the maleficent spirits at work, hovering 
over the house where Jameson was, and chuckling, maybe, and 
laughing over their devilish trade ? Did the old woman know 
what was going on ? Perhaps she could help ? He had left her 
in a friendly mood. She had everything to hope for — thwarting 
him would not serve her turn, aiding him would be to her own 
advantage. And Alison would still remain at Fasslie, and the 
money and bonds and railway shares would be untouched and his 
own, and no longer would the nights be full of fears as to what the 
lawyers in Inverness might do. 

But this wax image seemed hard and cold and impenetrable. It 
did not seem to melt. And was the fire not yet beginning to pierce 
him? Perhaps the favoring unseen powers and influences were 
waiting, were impatient, might go away ? And so he held the effigy 
closer and closer to the bars, until it. almost touched the coals. A 
drop fell, and another, and another, and he began to tremble and 
his head to swim for that they looked so like blood. And then, in 
a half-dazed way, he rather withdrew the wax from the heat. The 
melting was to be done thrice ; too fierce and sudden a sickness, kill- 
ing a man at once, might provoke suspicion. And so he withdrew 
the image somewhat, suffering it to harden again, and yet gradu- 
ally. No matter if it were hardened quite and cold, the pain had 
struck ; the disease would work now — his enemy was disposed of. 

And yet he was not altogether satisfied. Why should a few 
minutes’ torture imperil a man’s life? Perhaps he had been too 
hasty in withdrawing the image from the fire ? And then again, al- 
though the wise woman had instructed him to pierce the wax with 
needles on the second day of the melting, what harm could there be 
in putting in one now, just to make assurance doubly sure ? So he 
held the effigy to the flames again, but not too near, until the wax 
grew soft ; and then, under his breath, and with a malignant 
emphasis which showed how profoundly he believed in the bale- 
ful efficacy of the charm, he repeated the words : 

Fire burn, fire stew. 

This first knife I stick in you, 


38 


TEE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


and drove the point of the needle into the upper part of the image, 
about where the heart of a man would be. A further drop or two 
of the wax fell on the hearthstone — more like blood than ever, as 
it appeared to him. But he w 7 as satisfied now. The mischief was 
begun. His unknown friends could not complain of any want of 
thoroughness on his part. 

When he had replaced the now shrunken image in the box, and 
placed that again in the iron chest, and locked the same, he blew 
out the candle and made his way back to the parlor. Here he 
found Alison and the servant lasses assembled for family worship, 
that being the custom of the house ; and there was the big chair 
drawn in to the table, and the family Bible lying open. His first 
duty was to read a chapter, and he began to do so at once, but in 
a mechanical fashion, for he could not keep his thoughts from 
going back to the little chamber, and the red fire, and the needle, 
and the drops falling like blood on the hearthstone. This was the 
twenty-third chapter of the Book of Numbers he was reading, and 
he had come upon it quite fortuitously ; for the practice of the 
house was to go steadily through the Bible, from end to end, one 
chapter a night. And yet as he read of Balak, the King of Moab, 
who would have a curse fall upon Israel, and how Balaam w 7 as 
constrained to bless the people, his mind was haunted with mis- 
givings ; and then came the verse : 44 Surely there is no enchant- 
ment against Jacob, neither is there any divination against Israel : 
according to this time it shall be said of Jacob and of Israel, 

4 What hath God wrought ! * ” But the mechanical reading came 
to an end ; then he gave out the Psalm : 

“ They in the Lord that firmly trust 
Shall be like Zion hill, 

, Which at no time can be removed, 

But standeth ever still. 

As round about Jerusalem 
The mountains stand alway, 

The Lord His folk doth compass so, 

From henceforth and for aye ; ” 

and they sang that to the plaintive tunc of 44 Martyrdom,” Alison 
leading ; and then Alison and the girls went and he was left alone. 

There was something disquieting in that chapter, however per- 
functorily he had read out the verses ; and now, as he sat in the 


TIIE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


39 


big arm-cliair, plunged in a profound reverie, he tried to recall 
them. And what was it that had caused the curse of Balaam to 
fail ? What had changed it into a blessing ? Surely the fact that 
the children of Israel were under the special protection of the 
Almighty, who had interfered with the ordinary course of nature 
on their behalf. 

“ And it w T as long ago,” he continued to reason with himself, in 
these half-disconnected musings, “and it was in another part of 
the world altogether. But long ‘ago as it was, long before that 
there were the other powers, in the glens and among the hills and 
by the lochs, and who has put them away ? Before ever the chil- 
dren of Israel were brought out of Egypt the kelpies were in 
every water in Scotland ; and the underground people in every 
lonely mound and hillock ; and spirits in every wood and glen and 
on every wide untenanted moor ; who could think that they had 
all been destroyed ? Balaam’s curse was turned into a blessing — 
but that was in another land ; and the Lord was working miracles 
from day to day on behalf of a particular people. But that w T as all 
over now ; and here in Scotland the mysterious powers that dwelt 
in earth, and air, and water, were allowed to work their will, as 
thousands upon thousands of stories testified. And who w 7 as Alec 
Jameson that any interference should be made on his behalf? A 
common sailor, that might lose his life to-morrow, or next day, by 
stumbling over the edge of a quay, or falling down a stair, and 
the w 7 orld pay no heed at all. No, no ; there could be no interfer- 
ence in his case. There were reasons for miracles in former days, 
when there was a whole nation to save ; but this was merely a 
sailor lad in Inverness. Who w 7 as to interfere to save him ? And 
already the fire was kindled — the consuming fire that was to eat 
through him, and wither him, and destroy him forever.” 

That night old Bobert Graham could not sleep ; when he dozed 
off for a few minutes, appalling visions presented themselves to 
him and he would awake with a cry of terror, gazing wildly at the 
door of his room, as if he expected strange figures to stalk in. At 
last he got up and lit a candle and tried to read ; and then he 
w r ould walk up and down the room for another half-hour, thinking 
mostly of Inverness and what might be happening there in the 
dead of night ; and finally, when the first gray light of the dawn 
appeared, he completed his dressing and w 7 as right glad to get into 


40 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


the actual world, though it was as yet all voiceless and untenanted 
and spectral. 

During that day he w T as quite anxiously civil toward his niece ; 
though he did not notice that she, on her part, was disturbed and 
restless, and absent from time to time for a considerable period. 

“ Ailie, lass/’ said he, at their midday dinner, “I’m thinking of 
taking a trip to Edinburgh in a week or two’s time.” 

‘ ‘ Yes, uncle ? ” 

tC Would ye like to go wi’ me ?” he said ; but he kept his eyes 
$own, for this was not a natural part for him to play. 

“ Me, uncle ? ” she said, in great surprise. 

“ Both of us have as hard work as most folk,” he said ; “ what 
wi’ the farm and the house ; and we’re no so ill off, though it’s a 
lot o’ money to spend on the railway. But ye’ve often said ye 
would like to see Edinburgh, and a lass come to your time o’ life 
shouldna have it to say that ye ne’er saw a town bigger than Inver- 
ness, and I’m thinking we’ll just have a bit holiday together if 
ye’re willing. Your mind has been set on other things as weel I ken, 
but a young lass’s fancies alter and alter as the days pass, and I dare 
say you will be as well pleased to see Edinburgh as anybody. And 
we’ll no spend so much money after a’, for we’ll go to some quiet, 
clean, comfortable bit inn or lodging-house about the Cowgate ; 
and for the sight-seeing — for ye maun see the Castle and the Cal- 
ton-hill and Holyrood, and a mony things like that — weel, we’ll 
just do it on foot as heaps o’ better folk have to do. Ay, ay, lass, 
your mind will hae plenty to think o’ when ye climb up Arthur’s 
Seat and see the big town lying below ye. It’s a fine sight that, 
I’ve heard folk say there’s not a finer in the three kingdoms. ” 

Alison Graham could not at all understand this unwonted com- 
plaisance on the part of her uncle, but she said little ; she seemed 
preoccupied. And had he, also, not been so busy with his own 
affairs, he might have complained of her repeated absences from the 
house in the afternoon. But he did not notice. He was looking 
forward to the evening and the renewal of the torture. What was 
happening in Inverness ? The pining and wasting had lasted now 
nearly twenty-four hours ; soon there would come the occasion for 
the driving in of those vengeful knives. 

Just before supper he thought he would steal into the safe room 
for a minute and see how the corpse-like image looked after the 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


41 


melting of tlie previous niglit. He liad not ordered the fire to be 
lit as yet, and as he had left the window barred, he took a match 
with him in order to light the candle. He approached the door 
silently and stealthily, as if there were a coffin in the room. 

His fingers trembled as they groped for the handle of the door, 
though he could scarce have told why ; what was there to harm in 
a piece of moulded w T ax ? Inside, the little chamber was quite 
dark. He felt for the head of the match. And then — over there 
at the window recess — he saw something white. His eyes were 
fascinated ; he went forward ; it was something wavering, blue- 
white, and spectral in the darkness ; was it on the lid of the iron 
chest ? A kind of wave of shadow passed over it, and it partly dis- 
appeared ; the next moment it shone out with an appalling dis- 
tinctness — the likeness of a gallow r s in gleaming white fire. Terror- 
stricken, speechless, with palsied hands and frenzied eyeballs, he 
stood and glared at this awful thing ; and then three shrieks — 
three shrill, sharp shrieks, uttered in rapid succession — rang 
through the silent house, and the old man fell helpless and sense- 
less to the floor. 

CHAPTEE Y. 

THE BRIDE’S DOWRY. 

When those three shrill screams rang through the house, Alison 
Graham, who was seated alone in the parlor — but apxiarently not 
very intent on the work that lay in her lap — threw her sewing 
aside and went swiftly up the stair. When she reached the land- 
ing the dim moonlight in the passage showed her that the door of 
a small storeroom there was just being opened ; and she knew 
that the dark figure issuing from it must be Alec Jameson. She 
caught him by the arm. 

“Oh, Alec! w r hat has happened ?” she said, in a frightened 
whisper, ‘ 4 What is it ? What has happened ? ” 

“ Get a light and see,” he answered, hurriedly, but in an under- 
tone. “ Maybe your uncle has had a fit. I’m going down to the 
shore ; I’ll wait for you there.” 

He disappeared. She had to return to the parlor for a candle ; 
but her mind was so bewildered by wild forebodings that she 


42 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


seemed as one dazed, and she could scarce light the candle for the 
shaking of her hand. Had the two men met ? Had a murder 
been done in the house ? Was there some ghastly object lying 
there in the saleroom ? And yet Jameson had declared to her 
that his first object was to keep out of the way of her uncle, and 
had made the most elaborate precautions for concealing himself in 
the store-closet. However, she could not reason about it. The 
three piercing shrieks were a summons. Whatever sight might 
be awaiting her, to that dreaded saferoom she must go. 

She went quickly up to the stair again, and had just reached the 
door, when she heard a stirring within. For a moment she 
paused, as if to summon her courage together ; then she boldly 
opened the door and entered. The next instant she had uttered a 
sharp cry of alarm. 

“ Uncle, what is it ? ” 

The old man was struggling to his feet, white-faced, with star- 
ing eyes, and apparently speechless. He seized her by the hand 
and clung to her, then he darted a brief, terrified glance back to- 
ward the iron chest in the recess ; there was nothing of an unu- 
sual kind visible there. 

“ xlilie — Ailie, lass,” said he at length, and she felt that he was 
trembling like a reed, and was, indeed, like to fall to the floor 
again, “ dinna leave me, just bide here for a minute or two, I’ve 
had a kind o’ wakeness come o’er me, but I’ll be all right in a min- 
ute ” 

He stopped for want of breath. 

“I’ll go and fetch you something, uncle,” said she, “some 
brandy ” 

“Ay, ay, brandy — brandy,” he managed to stammer out. 

“ Then sit down for a moment, uncle, and I’ll bring it. Here, 
let me get you the chair ” 

“No, no, dinna leave me, Ailie, lass — no, no — wait a minute 
and I’ll gang wi’ ye ; ay, now, help me a bit, we’ll get down to the 
parlor; there, now, that’s a good lass.” 

She gave him what help she could, while she held the candle 
aloft with her other hand ; and in this way they came down to the 
parlor, where he sank helplessly into an arm-chair. 

“ The brandy, now, Ailie ; it’s a kind of wakeness that came o’er 
me — there’s a good lass.” 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


43 


For she had quickly gone to the cupboard and poured some 
brandy into a tumbler and brought it to him. With a shaking 
hand he managed to raise it to his lips and take a gulp of it. 
At the same moment there was a noise without in the passage — a 
servant lass was bringing along the things for supper. 

“No, no,” he said, and he held up his hand as if to forbid her 
entrance. 4 4 Go and tell her, Ailie, not to come in here — not yet 
— later on.” 

Alison went to explain to the girl that her uncle w T as not yet 
ready for his supper ; and while she was gone he kept muttering 
to himself. 

“ They’re against me — they’re against me — and the wise woman 
spoke of a gallows, too — what has angered them ? — but there’s an 
end of that now.” 

Alison returned ; and, though she had no great cause to testify 
solicitude about her uncle — whose treatment of her had been of 
the harshest — still he was in need of help and care, and woman- 
like, she busied herself about him, and got a pillow for his head, 
and made a hundred little suggestions for his comfort. 

44 I’ve been an ill man, Ailie,” he said, though it almost seemed 
to her that he was talking to himself, so absent were his eyes. 
44 I’ve done w T rong and harm ; but surely the worst sinner will find 
mercy and peace if he repents. There’s aye that. Seek and ye 
shall find. The door is aye open. The Lord is merciful — ay, 
even to the worst. Ailie, lass, bring over the big Bible to the 
table, and read me the Twenty-third Psalm — there’s a good lass.” 

44 But will I not send for the doctor, uncle? ” she said, quickly ; 
for this calling for religious consolation startled her. 

44 No, no; there’s the doctor I want — peace and mercy — peace 
and grace— the door’s aye open.” 

So she went and got the Bible, and laid it on the table ; and 
proceeded to read the Psalm that he wanted. And as she read he 
followed her, apiDarently repeating phrases from time to time ; 
with little comments of his own : 

44 The Lord is my Shepherd — ay, that’s right, the Lord can- save : 
what for would anyone go away from Him ? . . . Yea, though 

I walk through the valley of the shadow of death — no terrors — no ter- 
rors now. I would be on the safe side — on the Lord’s side — and 
then who can harm ? . . . Thou preparest a table before me—+ 


44 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


ay, indeed, it’s the Lord’s side that’s the safe side ; no harm can 
come then ; safety only, and peace, and a qnate mind. . . . 1 

will dwell in the house of the Lord forever — ay, that’s right. I’m 
obliged to ye. Ailie, lass, ye may shut the book now ; in the 
house of the Lord forever, that’s where there’s safety, that’s the 
safe side, in the house of the Lord forever.” 

When she had shut the big Bible and put it back in its place, 
she returned to him, anxious to do what she could for him ; and 
indeed those mumbled remarks had caused her some concern, for 
they sounded like the utterance of one whose mind had been 
unhinged. And yet her uncle was evidently recovering his ordi- 
nary look ; and, not only that, but he had some thought to bestow 
upon her. He would have her call to the servant to bring supper 
now ; and it was not for himself, it was for her. Why should she 
be kept hungry merely because a weakness had come over him, 
and he had sunk fainting to the floor for a minute or two ? Nay, 
he insisted. Alison, who was far more solicitous about him than 
he had any right to expect, would have dismissed all notions 
about supper but that he would not be denied ; so the girl was 
summoned and the table laid. During that time the old farmer 
remained jxrofoundly silent and thoughtful. When the girl had 
gone he spoke. 

“Ailie, lass,” said he, in a low voice— as if he feared some one 
might be listening without — “tell me now, do you happen to be 
aware o’ Alec Jameson’s address in Inverness ? ” 

She was startled, and looked at him — as if to find out what he 
meant by such a question ; but his eyes were bent on the floor. 

“ Yes, uncle,” she answered. 

“Well, now, lass,” he said, but still not regarding her, “after 
ye’ve finished wi’ your supper, ye’ll jist sit down and write him a 
bit note, bidding him to come through to Fasslie. It’s a bad thing 
to have quarrelling — a bad thing ; it’s better to be friendly ; and 
you jist tell him that if he’ll come through here, we’ll see if some- 
thing cannot be done to put us a’ on friendly terms. Ay, ay ; and 
just in case he should have gone to Nairn, to see his mother, send 
him a bit note there too ; it’s all the one writing, and no great 
trouble.” 

“ Indeed, uncle, it is not any trouble I would spare to bring you 
and him together,” she said, but she was entirely bewildered. She 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


45 


could not understand this sudden change of front, nor yet the 
singular events of that evening. 

“Ay, and if he is not well enough to come,” the old man con- 
tinued, cautiously, “if anything is the matter with him, and he 
canna come through to Fasslie, then ye’ll just tell him that we 
would like to make friends all the same, and he is to look forward 
to that when he gets better, and that there’s none wish him sooner 
well again than the folk at Fasslie.” 

“ But he’s not ill at all, uncle,” Alison exclaimed. 

“ How ken ye that?” said he, quickly. 

“ Because ” said she, and then she stopped and stammered, 

and it was well that he did not notice her confusion. “ Because 
— he would have let me know — oh, I am sure he is not ill at all. I 
am sure of that.” 

The old man relapsed into silence, and she went on with her 
supper. When she had finished she asked him wdietlier she should 
summon the lasses for family worship, or whether he would not 
omit that on this evening, seeing that he w^as not so well. But 
the old farmer would not hear of any such omission ; the girls 
came in ; the big Bible was opened, and he began the reading. 

It was the twenty-fourth chapter of the Book of Numbers he had 
to read, and he seemed singularly distraught and absent as he be- 
gan And when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord to bless 
Israel, he went not, as at other times, to seek for enchantments, 
but he set his face toward the wilderness.”) Nay, now and again 
he would stop and repeat a phrase, as if pondering over the appli- 
cation of it to his own case ; and especially he did so when he 
came to “ Blessed is he that blesseth thee.” Alison could not but 
observe that her uncle w 7 as very strange in his manner, and more 
than ever was she bewildered as to what had happened during the 
evening ; but she knew that an explanation w T ould soon be forth- 
coming — as soon as she could slip away from the house and seek 
out her lover, wdio w r as waiting for her down by the shore. 

That opportunity arrived directly ; for when family worship was 
over her uncle bade her go away and write the two letters, charg- 
ing her to make them as friendly as possible. 

Instead of going to her own little room, she merely drew a shawl 
around her head and shoulders, opened the front cloor quietly and 
stole out into the night. 


46 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


The sea was much quieter now than it had been during the past 
few days, though still a murmurous noise told of the regular fall 
and recoil of the waves ; and if the moonlight was scarcely so 
strong as it had been, it was still clear enough to lighten up this 
solitary world of shore and water and solemn over-arcliing sky. 
She walked quickly ; she could hear even her light footfalls in the 
prevailing silence that the monotonous wash of the waves hardly 
seemed to break. But by-and-by she was nearer down to the sea. 
Then she began to look around her. She heard her name whis- 
X^ered. The next moment she was in a sheltered nook among the 
rocks, with her sweetheart’s arms enfolding her. 

“ Oh, Alec, tell me what it is all about — it is all so strange, so 
strange,” she said, as she freed herself from the encumbering 
shawl so that she could nestle close to him. “ Do you know that 
my uncle thinks you have been ill ? ” 

“ It’s no fault of his that I am not,” he said, grimly. 

“Oh, but you must not speak like that any more,” said she, 
earnestly. “It is to be all different now. He is most anxious to 
be friends with you.” 

“ What, already ? ” 

“ At this very moment he thinks I am writing to you, bidding 
you come to Fasslie ; and there’s to be no more quarrelling, but 
everything friendly and well. And what has made the change, 
Alec ? What has happened ? Tell me quick, dear, for I must get 
back to my uncle.” 

“Is he ill after the fright ? ” the young sailor asked — and there 
was a curious smile on his face. 

“ Not so ill as he was — oh, no ; we had the family worship, just 
as usual. But he has been greatly disturbed. Maybe the faint- 
ing fit frightened him ; now, tell me, Alec, what you wanted to be 
in the house for, ” 

“ But it’s a long story, Ailie, my dear ” 

“ He’ll no miss me for a while,” said she, “ for I had two letters 
to write — and he was anxious they should be very, very friendly, 
and bring you to Fasslie just at once.” 

He laughed. 

“ That’s a change in the weather,” said he. “ However, I’ll 
tell how it all came about. Your uncle has been trying to mur- 
der me.” 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


47 


“ Alec ! ” she exclaimed, and she tried to withdraw herself from 

him. 

“Oh, but it’s true, Ailie, darling,” said he, coolly. “First he 
thought to fell me ; but I bid him beware of wdiat would happen ; 
then he brought out a horsewhip, but I broke that ; then he spoke 
about the collies, but what was the use of that when you were by 
me ; and so, as he couldna get at me any other way, what more 
natural than that he should try if a witch could help him ! Ailie, 
my dear, your uncle’s a queer man ; surely, he was born and 
brought up in Shetland ; why, there’s not an ignorant servant lass 
nor a half-witted sailor has such a faith in magic and witchcraft, 
if all I hear be true. Ay, and it is true ; and what has happened 
this night is a proof o’t. Would you believe it, then — your uncle 
went into Inverness to get hold of some witch or spey wife there 
that would work a mischief on me ; and, as good luck would have 
it, he happened on two poor old bodies called Lissom, that get a 
sixpence or a shilling now and again by telling fortunes. I’m told 
that it’s only of late years they’ve taken to such tricks ; when 
my mother knew them in Nairn they were respectable, hard-work- 
ing folk just like others ; but as they grew old they got less work ; 
and I suppose the temptation of picking up a little money easily 
in that way was too much for them ; so that now when a sailor- 
lad wants to know if his lass will bide true to him, he just slips 
round to the wise women, and they bid him look through a piece 
of crystal or some nonsense of that kind, and then he comes on 
board with a light heart. Ay, and that old Nance Lissom is a 
sharp one ; she led your uncle on from one thing to another, 
and got hold of the whole story, and all the time she was say- 
ing to herself : ‘ This will be news for Mrs. Jameson, and per- 
haps her laddie will gain by it.’ As for old Nancy,” the young 
sailor continued, with a laugh, “five pounds was what she got — - 
and a mighty windfall it was for them, I’m thinking — but they 
w T ere to get ever so much more as soon as they managed to kill me, 
so I’m much obliged to them for staying their hand.” 

“ But what do you mean, Alec — kill you ? ” the girl exclaimed. 

“Why, she pretended she could waste me with a sickness by 
melting a wax image before a fire ; and she gave your uncle the 
image, and told him what to do, and last night he was to begin.” 

Alison uttered a little cry. There flashed into her memory the 


48 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


lighting of the fire of the previous evening. Gould this terrible 
tale be true ! Had her uncle really been plotting against the life 
of her lover ! 

“ Ay, she is a sharp one, that old Nancy Lissom,” he continued, 
in his matter-of-fact way. 4 ‘ The very first thing the next morning 
she sent her sister to my mother to find out where I was ; and 
then I went back with her ; and between them they made out a 
fine plan— at least, I’m thinking it has worked very well so far, 
Ailie, and I think that neither you nor me will ever have a w T ord 
to say against spey-wives as long as we live. I need not tell you 
how it was all arranged ; for ye must be getting back to the house 
— if your uncle found out I was in the neighborhood he might 
suspect ; but this I will tell you, that when he went into the safe- 
room this evening he saw something he will not forget in a hurry. 
There was a gallows painted in white fire on the lid of the iron 
chest. Was not that a good warning ? Faith, it was a narrow 
squeak for me, for I had just time to bolt into the store closet 
when I heard his foot on the stairs ; ay, and no sooner was I in 
than the phosphorus bottle fell from my hand and I thought he 
would have heard the rattle of it, but I suppose he did not. And 
so he wants to be friends wi’ me ? Well, I’m willing to let bygones 
be bygones. When I said to old Nancy Lissom, ‘ but if I put that 
phosphorus gallows on the iron chest I may frighten the old man 
out of his senses,’ she says directly, ‘Well, then, he would have 
murdered you if he could.’ So it’s quits, as far as I am minded. 
Now, Ailie, dear, I would like to stand here talking to you the 
whole night through, but we must not run any risk. He must not 
know I am here ” 

“ But you will stay on at the keeper’s cottage, Alec,” she said, 
“ until there’s time for the letters to go to Inverness and for you 
to come back ? Of course, you will do that, when he is so anxious 
to see you. And to-morrow forenoon, about eleven, be at the 
corner of the fir plantation, and I will come and tell you how 
things are going. Good night, good night.” 

They parted, and she hastened back to the house. She found 
that the old farmer had not noticed her absence ; he had drawn 
the arm-chair in to the table, and was poring over the family 

Bible, occasionally repeating a verse aloud “ Thy word is a 

lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. . . . The wicked 


TIIE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS . . 


49 


have laid a snare for me ; yet 1 erred not from tliy precepts* . . . 

I have inclined mine heart to perform thy statutes alway , even unto 
the end” And when lie ceased lie told Alison that on reflection 
liis conscience would not allow him to touch the little keg of smug- 
gled whiskey that liad been secretly sent him from the ** Black 
bothy ” (it was really a bribe ; for the whereabouts of the illicit 
still was well known to the shepherds), but that if it was presented 
to Mr. Maclnroy (the minister of the parish) there would be a kind 
of sanctifying it to good uses ; consequently he bade Alison see 
that the little cask was despatched to the manse on the following 
morning, with a message of compliments ; for Mr. Maclnroy was a 
good man, and respected, and it behoved all decent people to do 
what they could for tlie comfort and well-being of a minister of 
the gospeL After that he counselled Alison to be a good girl, and 
said that peace and prosperity came to those who walked in straight 
and upright ways ; and then, after she had persuaded liim to have 
a little supper, and also (without any persuasion) a stiff tumbler of 
whiskey and water, he again recommended her to walk in the 
paths of mercy and justice and loving kindness to all mankind, 
and got him away to bed. 

Well, when sufficient time liad been allowed to elapse for the 
arrival of the letters in Inverness and Naim, and for the return of 
the proper answer, Alec Jameson made his appearance ; and very 
much surprised he appeared to be at the summons, but humble, 
and civil, and courteous withal. After one sharp, brief glance, 
the old man rather kept his eyes away from liim ; but that single 
glance had satisfied the farmer that no mischief at all liad been 
wrought by the charm. Had the unseen powers been mocking 
liim, then, or luring him on to ills doom ? Anyway, that was all 
over ; lie -would keep to the straight path ; whatever amends had 
to be made, he would make now ; and then, with his bands washed 
clean of Alison’s affairs, how could anyone in the future harm him, 
above ground or under ground, in the water, or above the sky ? 

Alison, her uncle, and Alec Jameson were in the parlor. 

“ It’s but a natural thing for young folk to think of getting 
married,” said the farmer, “and I’ve changed my mind ; I’ll no* 
stand in your way any longer. And then there’s another thing : 
When Alison leaves the farm she maun take wi’ her her share ; 
tliat’s but right ; I want to be just and fair to everyone, man or 
3 


50 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


woman, old or young. It’s no for me to say bow much it is ; for 
I’ve worked bard for her sake and my own ; but we’ll have tlie 
lawyers draw out an account, and whatever is hers she’ll have. 
Are ye satisfied ? ” 

He looked up at the young man. 

‘ ‘ It was not after Alison’s money that I ever came to Fasslie,” 
Alec Jameson said. 

“ But are ye satisfied ? ” 

“ I would take Alison without a penny, if that was her condi- 
tion,” he said. 

“ But are ye satisfied ?” the old man insisted. 

“Oh, yes. On behalf of Alison I cannot but say that is a fair 
offer.” 

“For this is what I want to say,” the old farmer continued 
“ that when Ailie has got every penny that is strictly hers, weel, 
then, a young lass should liae a little bit extra to spend on hersel* 
when she’s going to get married, and over and above what the 
lawyers give I mysel’ will give her fifty pounds — fifty pounds will 
I give her. For what? Just to show that there’s nae ill-feeling 
between me and her, or the man she’s going to marry, or any other 
human erayture.” 

Of course they professed themselves profoundly grateful. It 
was none of their business to probe deeps of human motives — * 
though they may have had a little bit of a guess as to the origin 
of this unwonted generosity. Besides, the fifty pounds would 
do something to beautify the little eottage just outside Inver- 
ness that these two had talked off from time to time, but with 
scant notion that it was to be so soon in their possession. 

And a very pretty eottage it is, too, at this moment ; and if you 
happen to be driving by you may catch a g-limpse of Alison Gra- 
ham— or rather, Mrs. Jameson, for such lias been her state and 
title these three or four years or more — at work trimming and 
pruning in the baek garden, while a small, bullet-headed boy is 
tumbling about near her among' the gooseberry bushes, and doing 
what mischief liis tiny fists can. The fifty pounds were carefully 
expended, but as for the other money coming to Alison, that has 
not been touched ; on the contrary, it has been added to, for Cap- 
tain Jameson’s fifth share has so far been profitable. Alison has 
gone one or two voyages in the Princess. Mary ; but she is not par- 


THE WISE WOMEN OF INVERNESS. 


51 


ticularly fond of it ; with two children to look after the time does 
not hang heavily on her hands. She has her holiday time when 
Alec Jameson comes home from sea; and they have plenty of 
friends in Inverness ; though she has not yet mustered up courage 
enough to accept her husband’s jocular invitation that she should 
go and see the two wise women. She prefers to leave them alone. 

As for old Robert Graham, he is an elder now. The shrunken wax 
effigy he buried at cock-crow on a Sabbath morning, when, as every 
one knows, charms and incantations are powerless to harm ; the 
rest of the day he devoted to reading aloud from the family Bible. 
Whether the mysterious and unnamed powers are still unfriendly, 
or are content to let bygones be bygones, he cannot judge ; at all 
events, he would cherish no ill-will against them ; perhaps they 
only resented some touch of green being left on the big iron chest. 
But lie never goes into the safe-room now after the sun has sunk 
behind the western hills. 


THE END, 






* *? ^ F A »* «; A » * V 

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H. RIDER HAGGARD’S NOVELS 


SHE : A HISTORY OF ADVENTURE. i 2 mo. Paper, 
20 cents. 

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I a largeness, a freshness, and a strength about him which are ftdl of promise and 
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tic side of fiction : that is, on the side of truth and permanent value. . . . He is 

, already one of the foremost modern romance writers. — N . Y. World. 

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J ournalist . 

One cannot too much applaud Mr. Haggard for his power in working up to a 
weird situation and holding the reader at the ghost-story pitch without ever abso- 
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philosophy is conveyed in pages that glow with fine images and charm the reader 
like the melodious verse of Swinburne. — N. Y. Times . 

One of the most peculiar, vivid, and absorbing stories we have read for a long 
time. — Boston Tunes. 

JESS. A Novel. i 2 mo. Paper, 20 cents. 

Mr. Haggard has a genius, not to say a great talent, for story-telling. . . . 

That he should have a large circle of readers in England and this country, where so 
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shows that the love of fiction, pure and simple, is as strong as it was in the days of 
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old, old days of Le Sage and Cervantes. — N. Y. Mail and Express. 

This bare sketch of the story gives no conception of the beauty of the love- 
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author. — St. Louis Republican. 

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KING SOLOMON’S MINES. A Novel. i 2 mo. Paper, 
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THE WITCH’S HEAD. A Novel. i 2 mo. Paper, 20 cents. 
DAWN. A Novel. i 2 mo. Paper, 20 cents. 

Published by JOHN W. LOYELE COMPANY, New York. 

A ny 0 f the above works sent by mail y postage prepaid , to any part of the 
United States or Canada , on receipt of the price. 


The Land Question. 

By HENRY GEORGE. 

Author of a Progress and Poverty “ Social Problems f etc . 


As No. 390 of our Library we have reprinted, with 
the addition of a new preface, the remarkable pam- 
phlet by Henry George, first published some three 
years ago under the title of “ The Irish Land Question.” 
The change of title has been made to better indicate 
the real subject, for though the Irish agitation is taken 
as a text, it is to introduce a discussion of world-wide 
and permanent interest. As the Critic has said, “ In 
all the current literature there is nothing like this 
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a series of vivid pictures. As the Times said : “ One 
rises from a reading of thi3 weighty but most fascinat- 
ing book with a conviction of the justice of the theory 
advocated, and with admiration for the clearness with 
which it is stated.” To those who wish to get at a 
glance some intelligent idea of theories now beginning 
to revolutionize thought, “ The Land Question” will 
be especially valuable, while the low price of ten 
cents at which we have issued it will enable those 
who have read it in its previous form to extend its 
circulation among those not yet alive to the importance 
of the great question it treats. 

JOHN W. LOVELL COMPANY, 

14 & 16 Vesey Street, NEW YORK. 


Henry George’s Mew Book. 


SOCIAL PROBLEMS. 

By HENRY GEORGE. 


No. 393, Lovell’s Library, 12mo, large type, paper cover, 20c. 


The great success already achieved on both sides of the 
Atlantic by Henry George’s new book, leads us to expect 
for this popular edition a circulation at least equal to that 
of 44 Progress and Poverty,” With all the characteristics 
that have made 4 4 Progress and Poverty” so famous, it is 
yet even better adapted for general reading, and serves the 
purpose both of an introduction and a supplement to that 
^ more scientific work. In 4 4 Social Problems” Mr. George 
has aimed at presenting the great social questions of the 
time without technical language or the abstract reasoning 
necessary to the development of the theories advanced in 
4 4 Progress and Poverty,” and at the same time to treat a 
number of questions that did not come within the scope 
of the former work. He has produced a book which 4 4 he 
who runs may read,” but which will yet carry even the 
casual reader into the heart of all the great questions 
which are now beginning to agitate the public mind. 

J. W. LOVELL COMPANY, 

Publishers, 14 & 16 Vesey Street, 

NEW YORK. 



“PAPA’S OWN GIRL” 

By Marie Howland. 


The manuscript of this great American Novel was 
submitted by the author to one of the ablest of our edi- 
torial critics, who, after a careful perusal, returned it with 
the following analysis of its rare excellence : 

“ As 1 think of them , the men , women and children of your story 
seem Wee actually living beings , whom l have met and lived with, or 
perhaps may meet to-morrow. 

“ The last half of your novel is grander than anything GEORGE 
ELIOT ever wrote . I am not , in saying this , disparaging the first 
half of the story, but this last part is a new gospel. TEE COUNT 
is a creation suggested by the best qualities of the best men you have 
known. TEE SOCIAL PALACE, as you have painted it, is the 
heaven of humanity; and the best of it is, that it is a heaven capable of 
realization. ******* p] ie scene of 
PAN'S return, and of his meeting with MIN, is indescribably pathetic > 
no one could read it with dry eyes, and the moral element involved is 
more effective than in any dramatic situation in literature. With the 
true fidelity of the artist you have given perfect attention to your minor 
characters, 4 TOO SOON ’ for example; and I admire the tact with 
which you bring over Mrs. FOREST into sympathy with the SOCIAL 
PALACE and WOMAN'S RIGHTS. This is true ART. Tour 
novel throughout meets all the great questions of the day, even the finan- 
cial one, and it is the best translation of GODIN that could be given. 
You will find a PUBLISHER , be sure of that , and THE NOVEL 
WILL BE THE GREATEST LITERARY SENSATION OF 
THE TIMET 

This powerfully written and artistic Novel is to the social 
questions now convulsing the civilized world what “Uncle 
Tom’s Cabin ” was to the slavery agitation. 


One volume, 12mo, Lovell’s Library, No. 534, 
30 cents ; Cloth, 45 cents. 


•TOLUST W. LOVELL CO., Publishers, 

14 and 16 Vesey St., New York. 



HENRY GEORGE’S LATEST WORK 



AN EXAMINATION OF THE TARIFF QUESTION WITH ESPECIAL REGARD 
TO THE INTERESTS OF LABOR. 

By HENRY GEORGE, 

Author of “ Progress and. Poverty/’ “Social Problems/ 
“The Land Question/’ etc. 


1 ^mo, Cloth. Price, ^ 1 ,£»0. 


CONTENTS. 


I. Introductory. 

II. Clearing ground, 
in. Of method. 

IV. Protection as a universal need. 

V. The protective unit. 

VI. Trade. 

VII. Production and producers. 
VUE. Tariffs for revenue. 

IX. Tariffs for protection. 

X. The encouragement of indus- 

try. 

XI. The home market and home 

trade. 

XII. Exports and imports. 

xm. Confusions arising from the 
use of money. 

XIV. Do high wages necessitate pro- 
tection ? 

XV. Of advantages and disadvan- 
tages as reasons for pro- 
tection. 


XVT. The development of manu- 
factures. 

xvn. Protection and producers. 
XVm. Effect of protection on Am- 
erican industry. 

XIX. Protection and wages. 

XX. The abolition of protection. 

XXI. Inadequacy of the free trade 
argument. 

XXII. The real weakness of free 
trade. 

XXm. The real strength of pro- 
tection. 

XXIV. The paradox. 

XXV. The robber that takes all 

that is left. 

XXVI. True free trade. 

XXVII. The lion in the path. 
XXVTH. Free trade and socialism. 
XXIX. Practical politics. 

XXX. Conclusion. 


For sale by all booksellers, or sent prepaid by mail on receipt 
of price. 

HENRY GEORGE & CO., 

16 Astor Place, New York. 




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ly periods, painful menstruation, unnat- 
ural suppressions, prolapsus or falling 
of the womb, weak back, “female weak- 
ness, ’’ anteversion, retroversion, bearing- 
down sensations, chronic congestion, in- 
flammation and ulceration of the womb, 
inflammation, pain and tenderness in 
ovaries, accompanied with internal heat. 

In pregnancy, “ Favorite Prescrip- 
tion” is a “mother’s cordial,” relieving 
nausea, weakness of stomach and other 
distressing symptoms common to that 
condition. If its use is kept up in the 
latter months of gestation, it so prepares 
the system for delivery as to greatly 
lessen, and many times almost entirely 
do away with the sufferings of that try- 
ing ordeal. 

“ Favorite Prescription,” when 

taken in connection with the use of 
Dr. Pierce’s Golden Medical Discovery, 
and small laxative doses of Dr. Pierce’s 
Purgative Pellets (Little Liver Pills), 
cures Liver, Kidney and Bladder dis- 
eases. Their combined use also removes 
blood taints, and abolishes cancerous 
and scrofulous humors from the system. 

Treating tlie Wrong Disease.- 
Many times women call on their family 
physicians, suffering, as they imagine, 
one from dyspepsia, another from heart 
disease, another from liver or kidney 
disease, another from nervous exhaus- 
tion or prostration, another with pain 
here or there, and in this way they all 
present alike to themselves and their 
easy-going and indifferent, or over-busy 
doctor, separate and distinct diseases, 
for which he prescribes his pills and 
potions, assuming them to be such, 
when, in reality, they are all only symp- 
toms caused by some womb disorder. 
The physician, ignorant of the cause of 
suffering, encourages his practice until 
large bills are made. The suffering pa- 
tient gets no better, but probably worse 
by reason of the delay, wrong treatment 
and consequent complications. A prop- 
er medicine, like Dr. Pierce’s Favorite 
Prescription, directed to the cause would 
have entirely remo yed the disease, there- 
by dispelling all those distressing symp- 
toms, anti instituting comfort instead of 
prolonged misery. 

“ Favorite Prescription” is the 
only medicine for women sold, by drug- 
gists, under a positive guarantee, 
from the manufacturers, that it will 
give satisfaction in every case, or money 
will be refunded. This guarantee has 
been printed on the bottle-wrapper, and 
faithfully carried out for many years. 
Farge bottles (100 doses) $1.00, or 
six bottles for $5.00. 

Send ten cents in stamps for Dr. 
Pierce’s large, illustrated Treatise (160 
pages) on Diseases of Women. Address, 
World’s Dispensary Medical Association, 
NO. 668 MAIN STREET, BUFFALO , N, T, 


THE CELEBRATED 


SOHHIR 


GRAND, SQUARE AND UPRIGHT PIANOS 


FIRST PRIZE 

DIPLOMA 


Centennial Exhibi- 
tion, 1876; Montreal, 
1881 and 1882. 

The enviable po- 
sition Sohmer & 
Co. hold among 
American Piano 
Manufacturers is 
solely due to the 
merits of their in- 
struments. 



They are used 
in Conservatories. 
Schools, and Sem- 
inaries, * on ac- 
count of their su- 
perior tone anc 
unequaled dura 
bility. 

The SOHMEF 
Piano is a specia 
favorite with the 
leading musicians 
and critics. 


ARE AT PRESENT THE MOST POPULAR 

AND PREFERRED BY THE LEADING ARTISTS. 

SOHMER & CO., Manufacturers, No. 149 to 155 E. 14th St., N. Y. 


CASHMERE • • 

^ • • Bouquet 




WhiteExquisitelyPerfumed Pure. 

Colgate & Co’s Toilet Soaps. 

lO3VARIET!Ej:ADAPTEDT0 EVERYTASTE AND USE- 




























































































































































































































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